I'll be there for you, when no one else is
by Tachunky
Summary: Trapped in a loveless marriage, Zofia took solace in her fellow operator. When they find themselves falling for one another, however, they have to realize that the relationship they're chasing after is doomed from the start the hard way.
1. Chapter 1

Buck woke up to a smack in the face with a pillow and a Frost standing by the side of his bed.

"You slept through your alarm, Sebastien."

"What?" Buck groaned. "How could you tell?"

"Because it woke _me _up." Frost said "Whatever it was you had to wake up early for, you're about to miss it."

"Wait, what time is it?" Buck asked as he forced himself out of bed.

"Seven fifty."

"Ah shit." Buck put on the first shirt from his hamper that he could get his hands on and hastily got dressed. On the way out, he gave Frost a pat on the head. "Thanks Tina, I owe you one."

"You owe me more than one."

"And I will repay you someday." Buck said as he went out the door.

Running through the halls of Hereford, Buck was pretty sure he woke everyone else up, but right now he was more worried about what Harry would do to him if he were late to their meeting. Luckily, he didn't have to find out since he burst through the doors of Harry's office just as the clock struck eight.

"Woah there, Sebastien. Are you alright, you look like you ran a marathon."

"Well I didn't exactly have time on my side."

"I can tell." Harry said, gesturing at Buck's bed head. "Your shirt's on backwards, by the way."

"I knew that. I chose to wear it like that." Buck said, awkwardly sitting down. "What did you want me here this early for, anyway?"

"I just wanted to have a quick chat."

Buck scanned Harry's face for any hints of ulterior motives. "Whatever it is, I didn't do it."

Harry chuckled. "Relax, you're not in trouble, but you will be if you keep treating me like you do with the previous Six. She may have been my mentor, but I am nothing like her."

"Fine then. So what did you really call me here for?"

"I need you on an op." Harry said "You're familiar with Bosak, right?"

"Ela or, uh, the other one?"

"Zofia." Harry said "We had a lead on a white mask hideout somewhere in Poland."

"I'm assuming Zofia's going because she's familiar with the area."

"You've assumed correctly."

"Then why don't you send Ela?" Buck asked "She'd know a hell of a lot more about that place than me."

"I've though of that too, but we're teaming up with GROM here, and I've done my research on the agent assigned to us. She and Ela don't really get along well."

"And you think that Ela would really let something as small as that get in the way of the op?"

Harry raised his eyebrows at Buck. "Yeah, she definitely would. Even I didn't believe myself." Buck said.

"Don't get me wrong here Sebastien, I'm not trying to throw any shade. Ela's a damn good operator, she's just not as…professional as her sister."

"I already know that Harry, you don't have to tell me." Buck said "So, when do we leave?"

"Tomorrow."

"What? Then why wake me up this early?"

"So you'd get used to it."

"Oh fuck you, Harry." Buck said, getting up from his chair.

"That's no way to talk to your superior Sebastien."

"Remember you told us you're only our superior when we're on operations. Right now I'm talking to you as a friend."

Harry chuckled. "Fair point." He said "Be sure to wake up early tomorrow."

"You didn't have to do all this Harry. I'll have you know I have a very reliable alarm clock."

"I hope you don't mean Tina."

Buck's smile disappeared. The man sitting right in front of him can read anyone like a book. "Shut up, Harry." He said before leaving the office.

He made his way to the cafeteria just as people were starting to pile up. If there was one thing he got out of waking up early, it was the fact that he actually got to eat the good foods that the early birds always got to feast on while he was still snoring. Once he got his food, he looked around for any of his friends, and saw Ela and Rook eating together. He made his way to them and sat down.

"Hey Sebastien." Rook greeted "You're up early."

"I know."

"And you're shirt's on backwards." Ela added.

"I know."

The three of them began eating, with Rook constantly stealing glances at Ela, or rather, her food. This eventually annoyed her and she set down her utencils and looked Rook dead in the eyes. "Julien, if you want some, just ask already."

Rook innocently smiled at her. "Yes please."

Ela sighed. "Open your mouth."

Buck stopped eating to watch Ela feed Rook. "Hey mom, I think you're feeding your son too much."

"Shut up Sebastien." Ela and Rook said in unison.

"I'm confused though. Are you his girlfriend or his mother."

Ela slightly leaned closer and gestured for Buck to do the same. "Well, last night I was definitely not his mother." She whispered.

"Jesus Christ, Ela!" Buck said. "Don't just drop something private like that, come on."

"Oh please. Don't act like you don't ask Julien for the details as soon as I'm gone."

Buck turned his attention to Rook, the two of them communicating through their eyes.

_How'd she find out about that?_

_I don't know._

Ela snapped her fingers in between the two of them. "Hey, I know what those looks mean. For the record, I was only bluffing. It were your reactions that told me."

"Shit. You're pretty smart, Ela."

"Don't try to get out of this Julien. I don't remember allowing you to tell others about what we get up to in the bedroom."

"Then let me make it up to you later." Rook said, tucking Ela's hair behind her ear and going in for a kiss.

"Hey, no PDA." Buck said "What you're doing isn't exactly allowed, remember?"

"Fine." Ela said, scooching away from Rook. "Zofia isn't here, is she?"

"I don't think so. Oh yeah, that reminds me, I'm supposed to go on an op with her tomorrow."

"Oof." Rook said "Looks like you drew the short straw on that one, Seb."

"You know, I never really understood why you guys don't like her."

"What do you mean, do you like her?"

Buck shrugged. "I don't feel strongly about her either way. I haven't known her long enough to make a judgement yet."

"You'd probably manage to get along with her." Rook said "You can get along with anyone. Its annoying."

Buck gave Rook another shrug. "What can I say, I'm Canadian."

"What's the op?" Ela asked.

"We just have to go check something in Poland. That's all that Harry told me, anyway."

"Why didn't he send me?"

"He said that the GROM agent we were teaming up with didn't get along well with you."

"Was it Meredith?" Ela asked. "God, I hate her."

"Harry didn't say a name, but based on your reaction, yeah, its probably her." Buck said "Care to explain?"

"No. I don't think I will."

Buck shrugged. "Fine, I'll just ask your sister when you're gone."

"Sebastien!"

"I'm kidding. Maybe, I don't know yet." Buck said as he finished his food and got up.

"Going already?" Rook asked.

"Yeah, I have to get my things ready." Buck said "Besides, I'd be lying if I said I don't feel like a third wheel around you guys."

"I'll give you the details later." Rook said.

The last thing Buck heard as he walked away was Ela scolding Rook and he couldn't help but smile. He stowed away his tray and walked out of the cafeteria and to the workshop, where thankfully the person he was hoping to see was there, slouched over her workbench. Upon closer inspection, he realized that she was actually asleep. He lightly tapped on the workbench.

"Hey Emmanuelle, wake up." He said, making the French woman jolt upwards.

"Sebastien?" Twitch asked. "You're up early. And you're shirt's on backwards."

"Couldn't sleep last night?"

"The walls in the GIGN quarters aren't exactly thick, Seb." Twitch said "What do you want?"

"Someone's grumpy. I have an op tomorrow, and my drone does that thing where it doesn't detect something that's right in front of it. Can you take a look at it?"

Twitch scowled at him. "You know, just because my specialty is drones, it doesn't mean I'm your personal mechanic."

"Come on Em, its for an op." Buck pleaded.

"Just borrow a drone from the off duty operators."

"But that would mean I have to be responsible."

Twitch stared at Buck in disbelief. "You're almost forty Sebastien, act like it."

Buck furrowed his brow as he thought of how to make Twitch comply. "How about this, you fix my drone, and I give Julien the keys to my room."

"How does that benefit me?"

"Think about it." Buck said "The JTF2 quarters are on the west wing, you guys are on the east."

The idea of getting peace and quiet at night for the entire duration of Buck's operation finally made Twitch give in. "Fine, give me your drone."

"Yes!" Buck cheered. "Love you, Em."

"The feelings is definitely not mutual." Twitch said as she got to work.

Buck left the workshop, making his way down his mental checklist of what he needs to do. _Drones are done. Skeleton key up next._

"Hey." Buck greeted the guard at the armory. "Sebastien Cotê, call sign: Buck, JTF2, requesting retrieval of firearm for inspection and modification before an upcoming operation."

"State the firearm being retrieved please."

"Canadian Army Marksman Rifle System."

"Sign here." The guard said, handing Buck his CAMRS and a release form. "Live ammunition is only available at the range."

"Thanks."

Buck slung his dmr over his shoulder and walked back to the workshop. Upon entering, he saw his drones on Twitch's workbench and a note that said she'd work on them later. Proceeding to his own workbench, Buck detached the Skeleton Key from his weapon and began to take it apart to check if everything was in working order. While doing so, his hand slipped and a spring bounced off and rolled to the floor.

He was just about to get up and get it when someone already picked it up from the floor and hand it to him. Buck thanked them mindlessly and went back to work before realizing who it was that helped him.

"You're Zofia, right?" he asked "We're supposed to go on an operation together tomorrow."

"I'm aware." Zofia said flatly, before proceeding to her own workbench, which just so happened to be near Buck's.

"Did Harry brief you already?" Buck asked, hoping to get to know Zofia better by striking up conversation. "I didn't quite catch all the details when he went over it with me."

"What do you need to know?" Zofia asked as she was also taking apart her launcher.

"Well for one, why I'm going with you instead of your sister. As immature as Ela is, I doubt something as little as a grudge would throw her off so much that she wouldn't be allowed to go on this operation."

"Why are you talking like you know her?"

Buck was taken aback by the question. "Well, I mean, she's my friend."

Zofia sighed. "Look, if Harry or Ela hadn't told you that, then you probably shouldn't need to know. If it comes from Meredith herself, then I won't stop her, but if you want it to come from me, it won't be happening."

"Fair enough." Buck said "Sorry for prying."

"Well, you care about Ela so I can give you that."

Buck finished reassembling his Skeleton Key, cocked it a few times just make sure he put everything back properly and set it to the side so he can begin disassembling his dmr.

"By the way, what's my story?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Well, the GROM agent we're teaming up with already knows you." Buck said "What about me? What do I tell her?"

"Oh, that." Zofia said "You'll be posing as my husband."

Buck stopped working. "Sorry, did you say husband?" he asked, to which Zofia nodded. "Yeah, I…I'll be right back."

…

Harry sat behind his desk, going over some files when he heard footsteps rapidly approaching his office. Seconds later, Buck burst through the door.

"I'm her husband?" he demanded.

"Congratulations Sebastien, you're now married."

"Not funny Harry."

"Alright look, I'm sorry for not telling you." Harry said "It just so happened that Meredith had always wanted to meet Zofia's husband, who wasn't available at the time so I had to improvise."

"I'm flattered that you think I'm husband material Harry, but why did you choose me?"

"Well for one, you two aren't that far apart in age."

Buck raised his eyebrows. "Jordan, Erik, Miles, James, Seamus, Marius, Masaru-"

"I get it." Harry said, cutting Buck off before he could drop any more names. "Its just that, they aren't comfortable around her. At least not enough that they can pose as her spouse."

"What makes you think I'd be any different?"

"Because you get along with everyone."

Buck wanted to argue but he knew Harry was right, and Harry knew that he knew so he continued. "Relax Sebastien, I've seen you with your female friends, the way you act around them can make anyone think that you two were together. You'll be fine."

"You think so?"

"Of course. Its almost as if it comes naturally to you." Harry said "Unless the reason you act that way is because you really are in a relationship. I hate to be that guy but you know those aren't allowed right?"

"I'm not dating any of my fellow operators Harry, just like you said."

"Just checking, Sebastien." Harry reassured him. "Just act normally around Zofia, you're already a sweet, loving, kindhearted man."

Buck eyed Harry suspiciously. "You're not gay, are you?"

"I have a wife, Sebastien. I'm just explaining to you how fit you are to be a husband."

"You sure you're not gay?"

"Get out of my office."

Buck chuckled as he got up. "Relax man, I'm just messing around."

"You tell anyone how I described you and you're suspended, you got that?"

"Yeah, yeah Harry. I understand." Buck said, and although he was laughing at them, Harry's words stuck to him, even until the end of the day.

…

Later that night, Buck was sitting by the coffee table in the JTF2 quarters common room, scrolling through his phone with the tv turned on in the background. Frost sat down beside him, cup of tea in one hand and a book in the other.

"Don't you have to wake up early tomorrow?"

"Relax mom, its not even ten yet."

"And you have to wake up at six." Frost rebutted. "Emphasis on _you_ which means I won't be waking you up if you miss your alarm again."

"That's what you said last time." Buck said "But if it makes you happy, then fine I'll go to bed."

"Bring the kettle here before you do, I left it on the counter."

Buck switched off his phone and walked to their mini kitchen. "Hey Tina, would you like me as a husband?"

Frost choked on her tea. "That came out of nowhere." She said "Why do you ask?"

"Well, Zofia and I have to pretend we're married for tomorrow's operation and I don't know if I'd be able to pull it off. I just want to know if you think I can be a husband."

"Just treat her like she's your best friend. That's what spouses are supposed to be, anyway. Although if you can, be more intimate with her."

Buck thought about what Frost said as he placed the kettle of tea in front of her. He stared at her for a second before placing a kiss on her forehead, essentially melting her into a puddle on the couch. "Good night."

"Wh-what the hell Sebastien?"

"Like that? Or should I have kissed you on the lips?"

"You should have given me a warning!" Frost said, flustered.

"Then it wouldn't have looked natural."

Frost threw a throw pillow at him. "Go to sleep already!"

Buck chuckled. "Good night, Tina." He said as he went into his room and lied down on his bed, knowing full well that when he wakes up tomorrow, he's going to be a married man.


	2. Chapter 2

Zofia sat by one of the planes in the hangar, impatiently tapping her foot as she waited. She made sure Buck would notice her scowl once she saw him running down the halls towards her. At first, he paid no mind to her as he put his duffel bag as his gear and firearms inside the plane. He finally turned towards her only to cut her off before she could even say anything.

"I'm not late." He said, breathing heavily "I made it just in time."

"Barely." Zofia said "Your shirt's inside out by the way."

"But at least its not backwards."

Zofia rolled her eyes. "Come on then." she said, entering the plane behind her.

"Right behind you, dear."

The two of them sat quietly as the plane took off, Buck only choosing to speak once the fasten seatbelt sign was already off. "So, what should I be like to you, husband-wise?"

"You tell me." Zofia said "If you yourself don't know how to be a proper husband then there's nothing I can do to help you."

"I'm talking about your actual husband Zofia." Buck said "What was he like?"

"Why is that relevant to you?"

"It would raise some eyebrows if I'm nothing like the man you've told that GROM agent about."

"I haven't told Meredith anything." Zofia said "All she knows about my husband is that I have one. All you have to do is be nice."

"Ok then." Buck said "So what's your relationship with Meredith?"

"Why are you asking so many questions?"

"Its called small talk, humor me." Buck said "If you're not even comfortable holding a conversation with me then I doubt you can convince people that we're married."

Zofia groaned, mostly because she knew he had a point. "She was the daughter of my father's best friend. Whenever our father or hers went on an operation, we stay with each other until they got back. Think of it like babysitting, even though she's like, two years older than me."

"Let me guess, it was always you two versus Ela?"

Zofia nodded, even chuckling a bit. "What gave it away?"

"Come on, its Ela."

"Fair point." Zofia said "You wanted small talk didn't you? Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"You seem fine pretending to be someone's husband. Any reason why?"

"I wasn't ok with it at first, but I never half ass things when it comes to operations."

"You were almost late and you're not dressed properly."

Buck looked at his shirt and groaned before taking it off and putting it back on properly. "There, you happy now?"

"Hardly. You couldn't have done that in the bathroom?"

"If you're not comfortable around me when I'm changing then we won't be able to-"

"Oh shut up." Zofia said "And I'm not done with my question yet."

"Then finish. No one's stopping you."

"When I asked why you were comfortable pretending to be married, I wanted to know if you were with anyone yourself. Surely that would make things harder."

"There's a couple of flings here and there with the more…open operators, but I'm not with anyone at the moment."

Zofia turned serious. "I meant outside of Team Rainbow. You know fraternization isn't allowed, right? Casual or not."

Buck shrugged her off. "Oh please, no one follows that rule." He said "Well except for you, but you're married so that doesn't count."

"Being married shouldn't be the only reason you should follow that rule. We need to set a good example."

"For who?" Buck asked "There are even some operators who get caught in bed with the recruits. No one can keep track of who's banging who in Hereford."

"I can't believe this."

"Why not? We all have needs don't we?"

"I also can't believe you're so open when it comes to talking about this but you'll probably just say we won't look like we're married if we're not open to talking about sex."

"See, you're starting to understand me already." Buck said with a smile "Now if you don't mind, I woke up six hours earlier than normal and I'd like to get some of it back so if you don't have anymore questions, wake me up when we're in Poland."

…

Zofia hadn't realized she also nodded off until Buck had been the one to wake her up. She groaned as she awoke. "Sebastien? Shouldn't I be the one waking you up?"

Buck rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I wasn't wearing my seatbelt so when we landed I fell."

"You're unbelievable." Zofia said.

"Thank you darling."

When the two of them stepped off the plane, Buck took a deep breath and looked around. "So this is Poland? I was expecting it to be more crowded."

"We're on a private airstrip, what do you expect?"

"I expected you to get the joke." Buck said.

The two of them walked to a hangar, where a woman was standing there waiting for them. Buck took a look at her. She had a medium build, slightly taller than Zofia and kept her brown hair in a ponytail. She took her sunglasses and stared at them with eyes the same color as her hair. Buck thought she was a cold person at first, but then he saw her run up to Zofia and give her a hug.

"Meredith, get off." Zofia said.

"Come on Zo, I missed you."

"Yeah, me too. Now get off."

Meredith let go of Zofia and looked at Buck. "And who is this?"

"Sebastien Cote. He's the man you always wanted to meet."

Meredith raised her eyebrows at Buck. "So you're her husband?"

"Last time I checked, yes."

"Well its nice to _finally _meet you." Meredith said, shooting Zofia a glance. "Come on, lets get you two settled in."

Buck and Zofia put their belongings in the trunk of Meredith's car and the three of them piled inside. They drove out of the airstrip and to a town nearby, where Meredith had a townhouse waiting for them. It wasn't anything fancy, just two thin two-story buildings separated by a wall.

"This one's yours." Meredith said as she pulled up on the house on the right. "I'm just next door if you need anything."

Buck went ahead and brought all their stuff inside while Zofia stayed behind, talking with Meredith about something. When they finished, Zofia went inside as well, where she found Buck sitting on the couch, flicking through the channels on the TV.

"Watching TV already?"

"I'm trying." Buck said, pouting at the TV. "Everything's in Polish. I can't enjoy what I'm watching if I can't understand it."

"Just keep looking, you'll find something." Zofia said, checking the bedroom and bathroom of the house. Just as she was headed back, she heard a moan coming from the TV.

"Hey look, here's something I can enjoy without knowing Polish."

Zofia walked to the TV and turned it off right in front of him. "No Sebastien."

"I was kidding." Buck said "Relax, Zo."

Zofia raised an eyebrow at him. "I never said you could call me that."

"Yes you did." Buck said "Sometime during the six years we've been together."

Zofia groaned. "You just love playing that card don't you?"

"You can call me Seb if you want. That's what everyone else does."

"Fine." Zofia entered the bedroom and closed the door behind her.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting changed." Zofia said "I'll put up with a lot of things when we pretend to be married but I have to draw the line somewhere."

"You're making me sound like a pervert, Zofia." Buck said, slightly offended "I know my limitations."

"I know that, I just want to be completely sure." Zofia said through the door "By the way, Meredith asked us to dinner later. Said she wanted to catch up with me and get to know you."

"Just tell me when." Buck responded "That reminds me, Meredith doesn't look like how I expected her to."

"Why, what were you expecting?"

"I'm not sure actually. When I heard the name Meredith, I pictured some shy timid girl who dresses modestly and goes to church on Sunday, not someone who looks like her. But hey, she looks pretty attractive like that so I'm not complaining."

The door to the bedroom swung open, revealing Zofia in a different mood than when she had entered. In fact, she seemed pissed. She grabbed Buck by the arm and pulled him closer.

"Listen to me Sebastien, we may only be pretending, but you're my husband and she's one of my closest friends so I'm warning you, if it gets hard, I'm cutting it off. Are we clear?"

Buck gulped. "Crystal."

Zofia let go of him and walked to the living room. "We meet up with her at seven."

Buck went in the bedroom to get changed as well, taking the time to himself to process what Zofia just told him. The fact that she got mad at a comment like that, even though he probably shouldn't have made it to begin with, tells him that he needs to take this more seriously than he has been.

…

"So where are we eating?" Zofia asked as the three of them entered the car.

"Remember that restaurant we always ate at together whenever our fathers got back safely?"

"We're eating there?"

"No, that place shut down a few years ago. We're going to the bar next to it."

The sudden redirect caught Zofia off guard and for some reason it made her laugh. "Goddammit."

This gave Buck some relief, since seeing her laugh showed him that she's not that mad at him anymore, or that she's just good at hiding it, which would only make him worry even more.

Meredith parked and the three of them stepped inside the bar, Meredith saving them a booth while Zofia and Buck went to order their food and drinks. Now that the two of them were alone again, Buck thought that it was time for him to properly get back into character.

"You look good Zofia."

"What?"

"I said you look good. You know, your make up and your clothes, they look good on you."

"Uh, thanks." Zofia said, not expecting to receive a compliment. "Where is all this coming from?"

"What? I can't compliment my wife?"

"Oh, you're back on that."

"I felt bad for what I said a while ago, alright?" Buck said "I'm trying to be a good husband right now so humor me."

"That's what you said about the small talk." Zofia said "But fine, I'll do it. Besides, I kinda overreacted a bit."

"Ok then. Come on, your hot friend is waiting for us."

"When I said I overreacted, that doesn't mean you get to push your luck."

"I'm kidding." Buck laughed "Come on." _So much for taking this seriously. Goddammit Sebastien._

The two of them sat down opposite of Meredith, who already had a drink in her hand. "Aww, look at you two, you guys look so cute."

"We just sat down."

"That's not what I meant." Meredith said "I meant that you two look cute together."

"We're supposed to, we're married." Buck said.

"That's a very good point Sebastien. Why don't you speak more often?" Meredith asked "Don't worry if you feel awkward alright? I mean like, Zofia liked you enough to marry you so that makes you cool in my book. We're all friends here."

Buck leaned towards Zofia. "She's awfully friendly right now." He said "Should I be worried."

"Relax, she's just drunk."

Their food and drinks arrived at the table just as Buck realized that Meredith was a lightweight. Or a day drinker.

"Hey, why are there only two beers?" the woman herself asked "Waiter! There's a mistake!"

"I didn't order one." Buck said, trying to get Meredith to calm down.

"Oh. You don't drink?"

"Quite the opposite actually." Buck said "I didn't order any because once I start, I know I ppwon't stop until I'm hammered, and someone has to drive us home so, you two enjoy yourselves."

"Aww, that's so sweet of you."

Once the three of them began eating, it didn't take long for drunk Meredith to start drilling into them about their marriage. "So how did you two meet?"

Zofia was about to answer when Buck beat her to the punch. "Its funny actually, we were both on separate operations and we both thought the other was a hostile. We nearly killed each other, but I'm grateful for that day since that was when I met the love of my life." Buck said, scooching closer to Zofia and putting his arm around her. "Right dear?"

"R-right." Zofia stuttered. She had told Buck earlier about how she and her husband had met should he ever need to use that information but the way he told Meredith had caught her completely off guard, and a little annoyed because in the back of her mind, that was how she wished it actually happened. She took a huge sip from her drink so she'd stop thinking about it.

The time quickly passed as they ate, Meredith keeping on throwing questions at them and Buck always managing to catch them with answers that further shows Zofia how far he's willing to take this husband thing seriously. In fact, by the end of the night, Buck might have even convinced Zofia herself that he's her husband with everything he had said, but then again she was drunk to the point of near unconsciousness so maybe it was just that. Maybe.

Being the only sensible person among the three of them left, Buck decided that it was time for them to head back home so he walked them to the car. Meredith immediately passed out in the passenger seat but Zofia was kind of falling behind, and one look at her face told Buck what he needed to do. Rushing over to her side, he bent her forward and pulled her hair back just as she started vomiting.

"There, there." He said as he rubbed her back. "Jesus, you can't handle your alcohol as well as your sister."

Once Zofia was done throwing up, Buck led her to the car and drove them back. Stopping by Meredith's part of the townhouse, he walked her to the front door and opened it for her.

"You going to be fine by yourself?" he asked her, to which she just giggled at him.

"Thank you Sebastien." She said as she wobbled inside and dove into the couch.

"That seems like a yes to me so goodnight then." Buck shut the door for her and walked back to the car where Zofia was already asleep on the backseat.

Sighing, he picked her up and carried her into their part of the townhouse and set her down on the bed. He tucked her in and offered her a goodnight, though just as he was about to leave, he heard Zofia tell him something in her half-asleep state.

"I wish my actual husband was more like you."


	3. Chapter 3

To no one's surprise, Zofia woke up hung over, her headache threatening to split her head in two. Groaning as she forced herself up and out of bed, she stumbled out of the room where the smell of freshly cooked breakfast awaited her. She stepped closer and saw Buck in the kitchen, preparing another serving for Meredith's plate.

"Good morning Zofia." He greeted. "There's some aspirin in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom."

"Take a shower while you're at it. You smell like alcohol and regret."

"Because that's what I'm full of right now." Zofia grumbled. She went to the bathroom to do just that and soon joined Meredith in the table. Buck gave her a serving as well, then one for himself. He sat down as well and the three of them began to eat.

"Hey Meredith, not that I don't want you here, but why are here this early?"

"I called her." Buck said "I figured since we got dinner together, we might as well have breakfast that way too."

"Thanks for that by the way, but I was coming over even if you didn't." Meredith said "I have to brief you guys on what we have to do. This is still an operation in case you forgot."

"You don't have to remind us Mere, we know."

"Relax, I'm kidding." Meredith chuckled. "But its better if I just show you. Once you finish eating, get ready to leave. I'll meet you by the car when you're ready."

With that, Meredith thanked Buck for the meal one last time before leaving. Zofia waited a bit just to make sure she was out of earshot before finally deciding to speak.

"You didn't have to do this, you know? I'm pretty sure she believes we're married."

"I know that." Buck said "I invited her because she's nice. And I was making breakfast for myself anyway so I figured, why not make some for you guys too."

Zofia sighed and shook her head. "God it almost feels like you're actually my husband."

Buck stopped moving. Zofia's words last night came flooding back to him.

_I wish my actual husband was more like you._

Did she really mean that? And more importantly, why would it matter. He is only here to act like her husband, nothing more, nothing less, no matter what Zofia says in her drunken state.

"Hey Sebastien, you ok there?" Zofia asked, making Buck realize only now that he had been too caught up in his thoughts that he forgot there was still someone else in the room.

"Yeah, I just have something on my mind." Buck said, praying that Zofia wouldn't pry any further.

"Well go take a shower then. Meredith said we had to get ready, remember? I'll take care of the dishes."

Buck nodded and went to the bedroom to get a spare change of clothes before heading to the bathroom. He showered rather quickly, partly because he didn't want to keep Meredith waiting, but mostly because he didn't want to stay in there alone with his thoughts.

He stepped out, got dressed and he and Zofia went next door to Meredith's part of the townhouse. They knocked and Meredith answered almost immediately. She locked her door behind them and gave the car keys to Zofia.

"Took you two long enough." She said "Even though you know someone's waiting for you, you still can't keep your hands to yourself, can you?"

"Meredith!"

"You try to deny it but your face says it all." Meredith said "Come on, we have to go already. You have your sidearms with you right?"

"Always. Why, we gonna need them?" Buck asked.

"Its always better to be safe Sebastien. Now can we go already?"

The drive was fairly quiet, Zofia asking for directions the only time any of them spoke to each other. They arrived at an apartment complex and with a wave from Meredith to one of the guards, they were allowed inside the parking lot.

"What are we doing here?" Buck asked as they exited the car and walked to the elevator.

"Meeting up with Joseph. He'll help explain everything to you."

The elevator arrived at the penthouse, the doors opening to show them a man holding them at gunpoint. Naturally, this scared both Buck and Zofia, but Meredith just brushed it off like it was nothing. She walked towards the man and pointed his gun away from them.

"Jesus Joseph, do you have to do this every time?"

"Can you blame me? The closer the wedding gets the more scared I am that I've been made."

Zofia regained her ability to speak before Buck did. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Zofia, Sebastien, this is Joseph Nowak." Meredith said "He's an undercover operative, and we're here to help him."

"You mentioned something about a wedding." Buck pointed out.

"It's a long story. Come on inside and I'll explain everything." Joseph said.

The three of them sat on a sofa while Joseph stored his gun away. When he came back, he had a file on his hands. He set it on the coffee table in front of the others, showing them a picture of what looked like a politician.

"This man is Michal Dabrowski. He's been funding several white mask activities for as long as we can remember. Three long years we have waited to take him down and we finally have an opening."

"Why now of all times?"

"As you'd expect, he has a lot of people on his payroll, police included, so arresting him would only get us maybe a few days before he's walking the streets again. That's not nearly enough time for us to transfer him out of the country, where the jurisdiction of the police he's paid off won't matter anymore. Plus there's the fact that he barely leaves his fortress of an estate."

"That doesn't answer my question." Zofia said.

"Relax, I'm getting to that part." Joseph shot back. "That is where the wedding comes in. You see, Michal has a daughter, who just so happens to be my fiancee. The day of the wedding, we're taking this man with us and we're flying him out of the country ourselves."

"When Meredith said you were and undercover operative, is this what she meant?" Buck asked, to which Joseph nodded.

"I have been with Marcia for three years, slowly gaining the trust of her father so I can lure him out to the wedding where a small army of GROM operatives disguised as my guests will be waiting for him."

"That includes the three of us, by the way." Meredith said "And just so we're clear, as far as Marcia knows, I'm Joseph's sister and you two are his childhood friends so get your acting skills ready."

Buck shot Zofia a look that says they've already been using them, and she rolled her eyes at him. "Why would she need to know that?"

"Because the five of us will be spending time together before the wedding, which is about a week from now." Joseph said "The three of you are also on the main table so its better if she knew who you were."

"Or who we're pretending to be." Buck said.

"Exactly." Meredith answered. "So that's about it. If I'm not mistaken, we're meeting up with Marcia tomorrow so get ready for that. Joseph and I still have something to take care of so will you two be fine heading back by yourselves?"

"We'll be fine." Zofia said, taking the keys from Meredith.

Buck and Zofia took the elevator back down to the parking lot, entered their car and drove off, and now that they were alone, Buck finally got the chance to talk about something that had been on his mind ever since they met Joseph.

"Hey Zo."

"Hmm?"

"How hard do you think it is for Joseph?" Buck asked "Having to pretend the same way we do."

"Why do you have to put it like that? Do you not like pretending to be married to me?"

"That's not what I meant." Buck said "We've grown closer didn't we, but after this operation and we're no longer married, what we've been through won't just disappear that easily from our memory. And we only have to do this for like, what, a week? Joseph has done this for three years. I can't imagine what it would be like for him and his supposed wife when this is all over."

"Who knows, maybe he has grown to love her after all this time, and if she agreed to marry him then that means she genuinely loves him as well. Maybe it will work out for them in the end."

"You think she'll forgive him for arresting her father?" Buck asked.

"Maybe. I don't know." Zofia said "Goddammit Seb, I already have enough on my mind and you gave me that to worry about too."

Buck stared at Zofia, who stared back at him, although she did this out of confusion. "What?"

"You just called me Seb."

"Well, you did tell me to call you that. Plus you called me Zo earlier so I…"

"But that's only when the others were around. You don't have to do it when we're alone." Buck said, a smile forming on his face "We're becoming friends, aren't we?"

"You're thirty-seven years old."

"And you didn't deny it. Call me immature, I don't care. We're friends now." Buck said in triumph.

Zofia sighed. "Why do I feel like I made a mistake?"

"Oh come on, don't be like that." Buck said "And can we stop for food on the way home?"

"I stand corrected, you're definitely not thirty-seven years old."

"We don't have anything to do at home. Besides, its almost noon so we have to eat lunch anyway."

"Fine." Zofia gave in. "But I'm choosing where we eat."

…

"I wish my actual husband were more like you."

With that, Zofia passed out on the bed, snoring loudly and acting as if she hadn't just dropped a bomb that would be stuck on Buck's mind. He tried not to think too much on it as he got ready for bed, but as he lied down next to Zofia, it was all he could think of. Despite his better judgement, he got up and went to the living room, his phone in his hands. He scrolled to his contacts until he found the number he was looking for.

"Sebastien?" the voice on the other end answered "What the hell, its midnight."

"Don't start that with me Ela, you and Julien aren't even close to falling asleep."

Ela guiltily looked at Rook, who was giving Frost the keys to his room and explaining why she wouldn't want to be here for tonight. "Alright fine, what do you want?"

Buck looked at the bedroom to make sure that Zofia really was asleep. "Is Zofia's marriage ok?"

"Well that depends on you."

"Her actual marriage you smartass." Buck said, trying to make it clear to Ela that he was serious "Do you know or not?"

"My answer to your question will depend on your answer to mine." Ela said "Why do you want to know?"

"She said something to me. Something about her actual husband and how she wants him to be more like me."

"Wait, really?" Ela asked "When did this happen?"

"Not too long ago. We just got back from drinking."

"Are you serious? She said this while drunk?" Ela asked, more out of annoyance than anything "This isn't the first time you've been around someone who's wasted, Sebastien. You know people say dumb shit when they're drunk."

"That's what I thought at first too, but I realized that whenever I asked her about her husband so I can get into character, she always tried to redirect the question or shut it down completely."

Ela sighed. "I don't know what to tell you Seb. I know you can't help trying to help others, but you should sit this one out. This operation is just like any other operation. Don't get too involved in the lives of the people that are a part of your cover."

"Its just, I feel like she needs someone to be there for her."

"I know." Ela said "I'm her damn sister, you think I don't think of that? If she chooses to go through this alone, then we have to respect her decision. Please don't push this any further Seb."

"Ok."

"Sebastien, I'm serious." Ela said "This better not be one of those Ok's where you agree with me but do it anyway."

"When have I ever…actually yeah. But this is definitely not one of those Ok's."

"It better not be."

"I just said so." Buck said "Change the sheets when you're done, alright? I don't want my bed all sticky when I get back."

"Yeah, yeah. Are we done here? You're kinda cockblocking me here."

"Yes, we are." Buck chuckled "Don't get pregnant."

Buck ended the call before he could hear Ela's rebuttal. He looked back at Zofia, who was still very much passed out. He sighed and shook his head. Knowing himself, there was no way he could stop himself from prying.

…

When Buck entered the restaurant that Zofia chose for their lunch, he didn't know what he was expecting. It wasn't a fancy five star restaurant, but it wasn't just another fast food joint either. There were parts that tried to be fancy, but its simplicity was what gave it its charm. If he had to use one word to describe it, it would be homey.

"Feels like you're right at home doesn't it?" Zofia said. "It was written all over your face. I don't blame you though, that was my reaction the first time I was here too."

"Well, since you chose where we're eating, you might as well choose what we'll eat."

"Letting the woman decide." Zofia said "You're either a gentleman, or lazy."

"Neither. I'm just someone who can't read what's on the menu because its written in Polish."

Zofia laughed. "Fair point. Go get us a table, I'll take care of the food."

"Yes dear." Buck said before leaving Zofia. The restaurant was relatively crowded, which was no surprise to Buck since it was lunchtime. He managed to find a table anyway, one meant for two people at the corner facing a window. He sat down and waved to Zofia so she knows where he is.

"I just got two of my favorite if that's ok with you."

"Believe me, its more than enough if its coming from you." Buck said before taking the tray of food from Zofia and pulling her chair out for her.

"Ok Sebastien, tone it down a little or I might actually wish you were my husband."

"That's what you said last night." Buck said under his breath.

"What?"

"Nothing! Let's eat."

Zofia eyed Buck suspiciously as he ate. She knew there was something off about him, she just couldn't put her finger on it. Eventually, she gave up on trying to find out what it is and instead opted for him to tell her himself.

"Hey Sebastien, is there something wrong?"

"You noticed." Buck said, slightly surprising Zofia that he didn't try to hide it.

"Well, yeah. I mean, if something's bothering you, you know you can talk to me, right?"

"That's the problem though. You're bothering me."

Zofia looked confused. "What do you mean?"

_Don't do it._ "You said something when we got back last night. You wanted you're actual husband to be more like me." _Don't do it. Don't fucking do it._ "Are…are things between you and your husband ok?"

Zofia's grip on her utensils tightened and she turned tense. She wanted to be pissed at Buck for asking such a question, and yet she found herself answering him anyway.

"No."


	4. Chapter 4

"What do you mean "no"?"

"What else could I mean?" Zofia shot at Buck "You shouldn't just ask something like that."

"I know, I'm sorry." Buck said "I even told Ela I wouldn't, but I…"

"You brought Ela into this? Are you fucking crazy?"

"She's worried about you too, you know." Buck said "She could tell something was wrong, she just didn't want to interfere."

"Good." Zofia said "You should have done that too."

"I couldn't, alright? Not after what you said."

Zofia looked confused. "What I said?"

Shit. Buck forgot she didn't actually know about that. "Well, not you per se."

"Sebastien, you better not be playing games when I'm pissed at you."

"You said you wished your husband was more like me when you were drunk."

"You took that seriously?"

"Why shouldn't I? People may say dumb shit when they're drunk but its usually true, and you only confirmed that."

"Still, its none of your business."

"I just wanted to help, Zofia."

"Why?" Zofia spat at him "Do you feel like you have to? I assure you, you don't. We're not married, don't forget that."

"We don't have to be married for me to want to help you." Buck said "You just said I can talk to you if something were bothering me, right? Why can't it go both ways?"

"I don't need your help."

"Why not?" Buck asked, but Zofia stayed silent as she avoided his gaze. Buck wasn't deterred by this and instead grabbed her hands and put them in his. "Zofia, I'm here for you. Why won't you let me help you?"

Zofia yanked her hands away from him and stood up. She finally looked at him and Buck saw that she was on the verge of tears. "Because I don't deserve it!" she yelled.

Bolting out of the restaurant, Zofia left Buck shocked and now the center of attention for everyone else. Awkwardly gathering his belongings, Buck got up as well and went to leave. "She's taking her diet very seriously."

Buck caught up to Zofia, who was sitting in the car, silently crying. She saw him and thankfully unlocked the door to let him in. Once he shut the door, she began to talk.

"He never hit me." She said "He never neglected me, or did anything to make me feel bad about myself. He did everything a husband and a father should, but I never felt…loved by him."

Buck nodded along to show that he was listening, and Zofia continued. "And I know your perverted brain was wondering this, yes, he satisfies me, but whenever we do it he doesn't hold my hand or kiss me, hell, he doesn't even look me in the fucking eyes. Its all lust and no intimacy, which is fine if he were just a one night stand, but he's not. He's my husband of sic years. Six fucking years, Sebastien, and it still feels like I'm having sex with a stranger."

Buck was somewhat ashamed that Zofia read him like a book once again, but that wasn't important now. "But why did you say you didn't deserve my help? What do you mean?"

"Its my fault we're stuck together." Zofia sobbed. "I'm just like those operators that you said you have flings with, but way worse."

"Don't put yourself down like that, Zo."

"But its true!" Zofia said "I was a whore when I was Ela's age. I had slept with nearly everyone back when I was still in GROM. I lied about being on the pill at one point and my current husband had gotten me pregnant. And the worst part was that he was the one who offered to marry me so that Sofie can have a father. My husband's not the problem, Sebastien, I am. That's why I don't deserve your help. I don't deserve to be happy."

"That's bullshit." Buck said "Everyone deserves to be happy."

"Didn't you hear what I just said?"

"Yes, and it doesn't matter." Buck said "Back then is different from now. When I remember all the dumb shit I did when I was younger, I want to kill myself too. That shows that we've grown as a person. Zofia, you are nothing like the way you were back then."

"You've known me for three days Sebastien."

"And in that short time, you managed to convince me that you are an amazing woman who's always sure of herself and in nothing like stuck up person your reputation says. If you think that you don't deserve to be happy, then you're a fucking idiot."

Zofia's fists clenched as she tried to stop herself from crying again. She saw Buck's hands grab hers and he suddenly pulled her in for a hug. "I'm here for you if need me."

Once the jolt of surprise faded away, she felt herself relax in Buck's arms. She hugged him back even harder as she finally allowed herself to cry. Buck held onto her, rubbing the back of her head and patting her on the back whenever he felt like she needed it. Once she was done, she silently thanked him and they drove back to the townhouse in silence.

…

"Come on, Ela."

Ela shushed Ash with a wave of her hand. She crouched down and squinted, as if that would have made any difference. She finally stood up, took a deep breath and took her shot. Everyone watched as the cue ball missed everything and went inside a pocket.

Ash laughed. "All that build up just for that?"

"Its harder than it looks alright."

"Oh really?" Thermite got the cue ball and placed it back on the table, scoring the rest of the stripes in and winning the game for him and Ash.

Rook sighed and shut Ela's mouth before any flies could enter. "Ela, I love you, but this game isn't for you."

"We're going again."

"Like hell we are." Rook said "I'm broke already."

"Give it a rest Ela." Ash said "There are other things to do other than lose to us over and over."

"You're talking an awful lot for someone who got carried."

"Stop talking Jordan." Ash warned. "What are you two doing here anyway. Its pretty rare to see you two outside of the bedroom."

"You make it sound like we have a problem."

"Because you do." Ash and Thermite said in unison.

"Tina caught us and kicked us out of the JTF2 quarters, and Em made it clear that Ela wasn't allowed anywhere near the GIGN quarters, so here we are." Rook explained. "Hereford is boring."

The PA system came to life at the sound of Harry's voice. "Ela, come to my office please, we need to discuss something."

"Well, there's something to do." Ela said "You don't think he found out about us, do you?"

"I'd be more surprised if he hasn't." Thermite said.

"Oh shut up." Ela said, leaving the rec room. She spent the walk to Harry's office thinking of how she can get out of trouble if Harry really did find out about them.

She opened the door, already telling him she didn't do anything before she was even inside when a little girl ran up to her and gave her a hug. "Auntie Ela!"

Ela couldn't help but smile as she hugged her niece back. "Hello Sofie. Fancy seeing you here."

"She wanted to see her mother." The other man in the room said.

Ela nodded at him. "Nice to see you, Jeremiah."

"You too. You know where your sister is?"

Ela raised an eyebrow at her brother-in-law. "She's on an op, remember?"

"She never told me anything." Jeremiah said. "When did she leave?"

"A few days ago. She should be back in a week or so."

"Oh. Well Sofie, let's go then."

Sofie whined. "Aww, we just got here."

"I know, but mommy isn't here. Come on, we can stop for ice cream on the way home."

Sofie's eyes lit up. "Really? Yaaay!" she cheered. "Bye auntie Ela. Bye Harry."

"We're going. Thanks for having us." Jeremiah said before the two of them left.

After a bit, Harry exhaled. "Thanks for that Ela."

"You didn't tell him? You said Jeremiah wasn't available."

"Zofia asked me to, alright?" Harry said defensively "I was just following her request, I wasn't expecting they'd show up."

"Did you tell him what the operation is? How do you think he'll react if he found out Zofia was pretending Sebastien was her husband instead of him?"

"I'm sure she has her reasons. Besides, they're just pretending. Nothing's going to happen."

Ela scowled. "You better be right."

…

Zofia stepped out of the bedroom dressed in fresh clothes and drying her hair with a towel. She looked around and saw Buck out in the balcony, laughing as he talked to someone on his phone. She approached him just as he ended the call.

"Who was that?"

"Tina." Buck said "She was just telling me off about how I gave Julien and Ela the keys to my room. Now she can barely enter the JTF2 quarters at all."

"Why not? What would those two be doing?"

Buck blinked, realizing how much of a dumbass he was. "Uh, so how are you doing? You alright now?" _Redirect 100. Nice one Sebastien._

Thankfully it worked. "Look, about what happened earlier…"

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." Buck reassured her "If you ever want to talk to me, just say so. My ears are always open."

"Thanks."

Buck nodded. "Any reason you got ready? Going somewhere?"

"Meredith called me over. Want to come with?"

"Nah." Buck declined "If she hadn't invited me, then I don't want to intrude."

"She'd probably be fine with it. She likes you, you know."

"The feeling's mutual, but there was probably a reason she only called you. Have fun though."

"Okay then." Zofia said, stepping back inside, stopping then going back to the balcony and surprising Buck with a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you Sebastien. For everything."

"No problem. I am your husband, aren't I?"

Zofia smiled at him before walking out for real this time. It was only during the walk to Meredith's side of the townhouse did she realize what she had done, and she cringed so hard that she had to bury her face in her hands.

_Why? Why did I do that? What the fuck is wrong with me? _She basically yelled at herself. _Sebastien was just being nice, why did I do that?_

_It was just a friendly kiss. It didn't mean anything. _That was now what she was telling herself. Plus there was the fact that Buck played it off like it was nothing so maybe it wasn't as bad as she thought it was. He was probably used to that from his other friends, right? Zofia tried to calm herself but it only made her overthink even more. What made her do that? There were other ways she could have thanked him with so why did she kiss him? Did she want to?

"What the hell are you doing?" Meredith asked, thankfully saving Zofia from the rabbit hole that she was slowly falling into. "You were takin so long that I was about to come get you."

"Sorry, I was a little busy."

Meredith suddenly grinned at her. "With what? Or should I say with who?"

Great. That didn't do anything to help ease Zofia's thoughts. "Its 'with whom'. And fuck you, that wasn't why."

"Sure, sure." Meredith said "Now hurry up and come in already."

Zofia followed Meredith inside, where she saw all the furniture had been moved to the side and there was a large mat on the floor. Years of friendship with the woman in front of her told her exactly what was about to happen.

"Sparring? Really? That's what you called me here for?"

"Come on Zo, we haven't done this in forever."

Zofia sighed. At least this will help take her mind off what she had just done. "Fine. Why not?"

"Yes!" Meredith cheered "Why don't we make things interesting?"

"No stripping. I didn't want to do it back then, I don't want to do it now."

Meredith sulked. "You're boring."

"I'm straight."

"So am I." Meredith said "Mostly."

"Then stop suggesting things like that."

Meredith groaned. "Fine. That kind of thing is reserved for Sebastien anyway." She said "Speaking of which, when was the last time he-"

"What the fuck is wrong with you Meredith?" Zofia asked in disgust. "I say anything remotely sexual and that's the first thing you respond with. Married people have sex, deal with it."

Meredith shrugged. "What can I say?" she asked as she got dressed in her sparring gear "I'm a romantic."

"You're a pervert. Don't try to put it in any other way."

"Keep talking, Zo. That's all you're good at anyway."

Zofia scoffed, taking her shirt off, leaving her in a sports bra and yoga pants. She stepped onto the mat, prepared to brawl with the woman in front of her. "Come at me."

Meredith obliged, charging at Zofia before she could react. She landed a blow to her gut, though when she went for a follow up, Zofia had already recovered, grabbed her by the wrist and pulled down to the ground.

Meredith kicked Zofia's legs out from under her. She scrambled on top of her, placing her knee on her chest and holding her arms down with her own to pin her down and in doing so left the two of them in a rather…awkward position.

"Tap out Zofia, we're done."

Zofia struggled under her. "Get you boobs out of my face."

"Ah, is someone jealous?" Meredith teased "Glad to know that there's a part of you that isn't more mature than me."

Meredith was just about to let Zofia go when she head-butted her and kicked her off. Zofia then grabbed her by the waist, lifted her up and slammed her down on the ground. Meredith landed flat on her back and all the air in her lungs left her body.

"What the fuck?" she gasped.

"I may let a lot of the shit you say slide, but you have to draw a line somewhere."

Zofia grabbed her shirt from the ground and went to leave when Meredith called out to her.

"Wait, wait. I'm sorry, alright. Don't go yet, let me make it up to you."

Zofia stopped to glare at her, but she stopped nonetheless. "You better."

She sat down on the couch while Meredith ran to the kitchen to get some beers. When she came back, she gave Zofia one before sitting down herself.

"In all seriousness though, I envy you Zofia."

"And why is that?" Zofia asked, expecting Meredith to make another comment.

"You and Sebastien have been together for like, what, six years? And yet whenever I see you two together, you still have that look in your eyes."

Zofia was confused by this. "What look?"

"The look that says that even to this day, you're still falling in love with him."


	5. Chapter 5

"Falling in love with him?"

"Oh come on Zo, its written all over your face." Meredith said "I wish I'd be as happy as you when I get married. Or should I say if I get married."

"You'll…you'll find someone." Zofia said absentmindedly, focusing more on what Meredith had said before. She was wrong. There was no way she feels anything other than friendship towards Buck. She just gives off the vibe that Meredith mentioned because Buck had helped her earlier. The two of them were only pretending to be married. That's it.

"Hey Zo, you ok there?"

Zofia hadn't realized she had been lost in thought. "I think I'll be going now. We're meeting up with Marcia tomorrow, right? I'm going to bed early."

"Its only eight in the evening, but ok. Goodnight then."

Zofia walked back to their part of the townhouse and entered, where she saw Buck on the couch, watching TV. He turned his attention to her when she arrived, giving her a different look than usual, almost as if he heard their conversation through the wall.

"What's wrong?" Zofia nervously asked.

"That get-up looks like something your sister would wear."

Zofia looked down and realized that while she was convincing herself Meredith was wrong, she had forgotten to put her shirt back on, meaning she was still in her sports bra and yoga pants. Face heating up, she frantically put her shirt back on.

"You pervert!" she blurted out in embarrassment.

"I said it was something your sister would wear but I didn't say that you didn't look good. You can pull it off surprisingly well."

"Stop thinking about it!" Zofia said "You're taking my shirt off with your mind right now."

Buck chuckled. "I'm not! All I'm doing is giving a compliment to my attractive _wife_." He said, winking at her.

Little does he know, doing so didn't help Zofia's situation at all. "Sebastien, you…" she found herself unable to think of anything to say.

"Yes dear? What's wrong?" Buck wasn't planning on stopping.

"Go to bed."

"What?" Buck asked, surprised at the turn their conversation had taken "Its only eight, and we're meeting up with Marcia at noon. What's the rush?"

"Do you really think you'll be able to wake up that early?"

"Well, no. But that's why you're here isn't it?"

"I'm not like Tina, Seb." Zofia said "I have no problem leaving you behind if you sleep through your alarm."

Buck acted like he was about to cry. "That hurts Zo. And here I thought we were always supposed to be there for each other. That's what we promised to each other wasn't it?"

"What the hell are you going on about?" Zofia asked, annoyed "This is a bit much, even for you."

"Its called getting into character." Buck said "We're meeting Marcia for the first time tomorrow so we have to be extra happy as a couple. At least that's what I think, since if she sees us happily married even after six years, she'd be excited and want that to happen with her and Joseph as well."

"Hey Seb, reality check, Joseph's an undercover operative. None of this would matter after we catch Marcia's father."

"Remember you said that there's a chance Joseph actually fell in love with her?" Buck asked "I'm hoping you're right. For both of them."

Zofia rolled her eyes. "You're really into this whole marriage thing aren't you?" she said "Which makes me wonder why you haven't tied the knot yourself."

Buck was about to say something when Zofia cut him off. "Don't you dare say you're already married to me."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm down with spending the rest of my life with the person I love, but this line of work doesn't make that easy."

"What about after, though?" Zofia asked "What would you look forward to?"

Buck shrugged. "I'm only thirty-seven Zo. Retirement age is sixty, and that's if I don't die before that. I don't think about that stuff too often, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared."

"This conversation took a weird turn, didn't it?"

"Yeah." Buck said "And it all started from me calling you sexy in your outfit."

Buck went for the bathroom to get ready for bed while Zofia yelled at him. Once she had calmed down and Buck was already headed to bed, it was Zofia's turn in the bathroom, where she was alone with her thoughts, and of course they went straight to what Meredith said.

"I'm just grateful to him after he helped me. That's all." She said to herself "And we're talking normally so nothing changed between us. I don't feel anything towards him."

She jabbed a finger at her reflection on the mirror. "Nothing."

Zofia entered the bedroom where she saw Buck sleeping. She stared at him for a few seconds before realizing that this was the first night that she was aware they were sleeping in the same bed. The first one didn't count since she was out cold, even though she had apparently said something embarrassing to Buck before she fell asleep.

It took her a while to figure out how she was going to do this, and in her fidgeting at the edge of the bed, she had woken Buck up.

"What the hell are you doing?" Buck grumbled.

"I was just…getting some pillows so I can sleep on the couch."

Buck sat up. "What? Why?"

Zofia couldn't think of an excuse in time. "You were embarrassed to sleep in the same bed with me were you? Afraid it would be awkward?" Buck answered for her and Zofia nodded.

Buck sighed. "Fine then, I'll move to the couch."

"No, I can't make you do that. I'm fine on the couch, you can keep the bed."

"Zofia, either you get the bed or we both do. If you want me to keep the bed, you have to sleep here to."

Zofia thought it over, but eventually agreed anyway. She crawled into bed with him, but kept so much distance between them that it wouldn't take much for her to fall off the bed.

Buck sat up again and shook his head at her. "This isn't any better Zofia."

"I'm sorry alright, it just feels too awkward."

"I get it, you're not fully comfortable with us being married but at least see me as your friend."

Zofia raised and eyebrow. "You and your friends sleep on the same bed every night?"

"No, but if we have to I wouldn't have a problem with it. And I'd make sure that they wouldn't either."

"Your friends are lucky to have someone like you then."

"You talk as if you're not one of them." Buck said "If you're really not comfortable then I'll just move to the couch."

Zofia grabbed Buck's arm to stop him from getting up. "No. Stay here."

"Ok then." Buck lied back down and watched as Zofia awkwardly shuffled closer to him. He rolled his eyes. "I won't bite Zo, relax."

"I better not wake up to see you cuddling me." Zofia said, trying to hide her nervousness behind banter.

Buck scoffed. "In your dreams." He said "Goodnight my love."

…

Zofia woke up the next morning, groaning as she tried to roll over. In doing so, she realized she had been hugging Buck's arm in her sleep. She stopped herself from yanking her arms back, knowing that this would have woken him up, which would then mean she would've had to explain why she had to yank her arms back. She slowly slid her arms out from under his and tip toed out of the room.

She stepped into the bathroom and took a look at herself in the mirror after she relieved herself. She stared at her reflection and her mind wandered to how she looked like last night, asleep and cuddling with Buck's arm.

"What is happening to you?" she asked herself.

She washed her face and stepped out, glancing at the clock on the wall. She sighed, and despite declaring last night that she wouldn't, she woke Buck up.

"Hey." She said, shaking him slightly. "Wake up Sebastien. We have to get ready."

"Five more minutes." Buck groaned.

Zofia was taken aback. "Are you serious?"

Buck rolled over to his other side as a response. Irritated, Zofia went to the kitchen, filled a glass with water then walked back to the bedroom where she then doused Buck with it. His eyes shot open at the sudden feeling of cold tap water.

"What the hell?"

"To be fair, I asked you nicely first."

Buck scowled, grumbling as he got up and walked past Zofia to the bathroom, and for some reason, the former couldn't help but smile. After doing what he needed to in the bathroom, Buck joined Zofia in the kitchen, who was in the middle of putting an apron on.

"Look at you." Buck said in amusement "What's on the menu?"

"Sofie's favorite. And the only thing I know how to cook." Zofia said "Pancakes."

"Really?"

Zofia studied Buck's face, and when she sensed a hint of disappointment, she suddenly felt insecure. "Well, its just that, w-we usually eat take out because we don't have time to cook, and-"

"Hey, relax." Buck said "I'm sure anything you make will be amazing, Zofia."

On the way to grab some plates, Buck added something in a whisper to Zofia's ear. "As long as you make it with love."

Zofia spilled some pancake batter upon hearing Buck's comment.

"Woah, you ok there?" Buck asked.

"Yeah, my hand just slipped."

"Actually, if you hold it like that, you'll spill more often." Buck said "May I?"

Zofia thought Buck meant that he would take over for her and she was about to give him the bowl, but instead he came up from behind her and guided her arms.

"There. You should be fine now." Buck said "Call me if you need anything."

"Th-thanks."

Buck wrote off that interaction, probably because it _was _nothing, but for some reason, it left Zofia with goosebumps all over. She thought to herself that if she'd _accidentally_ spill some batter, maybe Buck would do it again, but then she remembered that they didn't have time for things like this.

And that she was married.

After a quick breakfast and an even quicker shower, both of them showed up to go get Meredith just as it turned eleven thirty. They honked the horn and Meredith emerged from her front door. She waved to acknowledge them before locking her door.

She sat on the back seat, surprisingly not making a comment about how they were nearly late again, or how their clothes look like they were hurriedly put on. Either Zofia had really managed to talk some sense in her last night or she was building up for a comment later, and if it were the latter, they would need to stop by a hospital on the way to meet up with Marcia.

"Oh, by the way." Here it comes. "We need to talk about Marcia."

Caught off guard, Zofia asked why. "What's there to talk about?"

"She's like a…a teddy bear."

"Which means?"

"She's pure, you know? Like, you take a look at her and you already know that she's nice and friendly and innocent. Hell, I'm pretty sure age is the only difference between her and a child when it comes to those things."

"That's good to know, I guess." Zofia said "Why did you bring that up now?"

"Because we need to be extra friendly to her. Its not important for the mission, I just feel like I need to protect that cinnamon roll."

"Look at you." Buck smiled "Being a caring big sister. Don't worry, I won't have a problem with that."

"I know that Sebastien, I was talking about Zofia."

"Hey!"

"Don't try to deny it Zo." Meredith said "You were cold to me at first."

"That's how I am to everyone so I can judge their character."

"Bullshit." Buck and Meredith said in unison.

"Gang up on me, why don't you." Zofia said "I'll act like Sebastien the whole time we're there. Will that make you happy?"

"You already make me happy Zofia." Buck said.

Meredith raised her eyebrow at Buck. "Lovey dovey act? Actually, that's a pretty good idea, be like that when we're with her. She's crazy about that kind of thing."

Buck gave Zofia a look that says I told you so. He turned to face Meredith and decided to crank it up to eleven. "Who said I'm acting?"

Meredith made a face at Buck. "I get it, you two love each other, no need to rub it in."

"Yeah." Zofia said, forcefully trying to clear her mind and focus on driving while Buck and Meredith kept chatting about the marriage that Buck claims that they have.

And the marriage that Zofia wishes she has.

…

Meredith and Zofia stood outside of the door to Marcia's house, waiting for her to respond after they had knocked on the door.

"Shouldn't she and Joseph be living together?"

"They do." Meredith said "Its just that Marcia's parents are in town and they're pretty conservative so she moved here for the time being."

"And who owns this house?"

"I do. Why do you think I'm staying in the townhouse next to you?" Meredith said "By the way, I know you and Sebastien met on an operation, and Marcia thinks we're all childhood friends, that wouldn't really make sense, so if you can think of another story, that'd be great."

"Seb can take care of that." Zofia said.

"I'm sure he will."

The door in front of them opened and a short and bubbly woman emerged. Without warning, she wrapped Meredith in a hug.

"Mere!"

"Marcy!" Meredith exclaimed as she hugged her back.

After rocking left and right a bit, Meredith let go and gestured to Zofia. "This is one of Jospeh's childhood friends, Zofia. The one by the car is Sebastien." She said, pointing to Buck, who waved at them.

"Nice to meet you." Zofia said, going in for a handshake.

Marcia stared at her hand. "Why so formal?" she asked, outstretching her arms "Come here."

Zofia awkwardly stared at her and thankfully, Meredith intervened. "Marcy, you may be a ball of sunshine but tone it down when meeting new people, alright?"

"Don't talk to me like a child Mere."

Meredith shrugged. "Well, you're acting like one." She said "Besides, I'm ten years older than you so, eh. Now start over with Zofia."

As if on cue, Marcia's personality did a complete 180 and she shook Zofia's hand as if they were in the middle of a business deal.

"Nice to meet you too."

"There you go." Meredith said "Go on ahead to the car, I'll just get something from my room."

Marcia snapped. "That's right, I forgot this was your house."

"Yes it is. Go on ahead to the car, Zofia come help me with something will you?"

"Uh, sure." Zofia followed Meredith into her house, where she led her to the second floor. "What did you need me for?"

"We're going to a wedding next week."

"Yeah, I know. What does that have to do with anything?"

Meredith opened her cabinet. "You're going to need formal attire that I'm betting you didn't bring with you."

Zofia blinked. That didn't cross her mind at all. "Damn, you're right. You have anything that fits me?"

"Looking for it right now."

Zofia looked out the window while Meredith was searching and she saw Marcia giving Buck a hug. She chuckled and told Meredith about it.

"I'm actually not surprised. Sebastien and Marcia aren't all that different." Meredith said as she took out a dress from her cabinet and gave it to Zofia. "Here you go."

Zofia examined the it. The light blue dress was rather simple, but beautiful nonetheless. "Not bad." She said "You sure this will fit me?"

"We're the same size aren't we?" Meredith asked as she took out her own dress from the cabinet. "Although you might need to stuff your bra for it to-"

Zofia threw a punch at Meredith's gut and walked out of the room, leaving her doubled over and gasping for air.

"Sorry." Meredith said as she followed her back to the car.

They opened the door and saw Marcia and Buck jamming out to a song on the radio, neither of them caring when Meredith and Zofia saw them. Zofia sat on the passenger seat and turned the radio down.

"Nice to see you two getting along." Zofia said "Sebastien, do you even understand the song you were listening to?"

"Who cares? Some k-pop fans aren't even korean and yet they still love it."

"He has a point." Marcia said.

Zofia was about to say something, then realized it wasn't worth the energy.

"So, where are we going?" Buck asked.

"You sat yourself at the driver's seat even though you don't know where we're going?"

"You two were taking too long and Marcia said she can't drive stick so, eh. Just tell me where to go."

Zofia confirmed the location with Meredith and started to give Buck directions to the restaurant they were getting lunch at. After roughly half an hour of driving, they reached their destination. The four of them stepped inside, where a waiter was waiting for them, announcing to Meredith that the table she had reserved for them was ready.

They followed him to a round table that already had everything they needed waiting for them. They sat down and each grabbed a menu, Buck exhaling in relief when he did so.

"Thank god I can recognize some of the words here." He said, earning him a small chuckle from the others.

Once they placed their orders, the waiter each served them a glass of wine and everyone except Buck took a sip. Marcia took note of this.

"You don't drink?" she asked Buck.

"No, but someone needs to drive us home, and these two can't hold their alcohol very well."

"I do. Go ahead, drink up." Marcia said.

Buck was reluctant, but downed his glass anyway. "If you say so."

Marcia finished hers as well and looked at Buck and Zofia, thinking about what she was going to ask them first. She decided asking them about how they got together first.

Zofia realized she hadn't told Buck what Meredith told her yet but he was already answering. "Well we were celebrating Joseph's birthday at the beach and we got really drunk by the end of it. Then I saw Zofia glowing under the sunset as she laughed and my drunk ass was like 'Damn, I really love this woman.' Sounds like something straight out of a romance novel if you ask me."

"Aww, how cute!" Marcia said, a little too excited "Wait, if you've been here since you were a kid, how come you still can't speak polish?"

Buck shrugged. "I never studied it. I thought I'd learn it from hearing it as I grew up. I was very wrong. I can speak French though."

"Hmm, let's see, what else." Marcia said to herself "Oh, I know. The way Meredith described how the two of you are together makes it seem like you just got together. How do you keep that spark even after all these years?"

Once again, Buck answered without a second thought, making Zofia wonder if he knew Marcia's questions before she actually asked them. "Pretty much the same with what anyone else would say about how to maintain a happy marriage. You need to have open communication, trust in each other, an active sex life, all that. For me though, it's the little things."

"Like what?"

"Well, for example, whenever I have to wake her up I gently kiss her and whisper I love you into her ear." Buck said "Although a kiss down under works pretty well too, if you know what I mean."

It took Zofia a second, but she understood what Buck meant and her face heat up. "Sebastien!" she yelled in embarrassment as she slapped him on the arm.

Marcia's eyes lit up. "You guys are so cute!" she cheered "What else?"

Zofia beat Buck to the punch this time. "Just like Seb said, its the little things. I love how he doesn't need to be told what to do. He always makes breakfast in the morning, whenever he gets a beer or food or anything we like he always gets one for me, even without me asking. Its because of these things that he doesn't need to tell me that he loves me, because I already know."

Buck was about to add something when a kid running around bumped into him, dropping his toy and spilling his drink onto him. The kid's mother arrived, frantically apologizing to Buck for what her son did, but he just waved her off.

"Don't worry, accidents happen." Buck said as he gave the child his toy back. "You be careful now."

Marcia watched as the kid and his mother walked away. "You seem to be good with kids."

Buck shrugged. "Maybe, although the thought of having them was never really appealing to me."

"Don't you guys have a daughter."

"The thought wasn't appealing at first." Buck said, playing off his slip up as if he hadn't said it at all "But when I saw Zofia asleep while she was cradling Sofie in her arms for the first time, I didn't care what challenges were ahead. As long as I'm with Zofia, I knew we could do it."

"I know I said it before, but you guys are like the perfect couple."

Zofia put her arm around Buck and pulled him close. "That's because I have the perfect partner."

"So do I."

Buck and Zofia stared at each other, both of them sporting genuine smiles on their faces. Marcia's smile was wider than theirs though.

"Just kiss already."

Zofia's face developed a shade of red but as usual, Buck kept it cool. "That'd be too much at this point Marcia. We'd look like we were just acting."

"Hey, I'm glad you three are getting a long but none of you had taken a bite out of your food." Meredith said, who up until now was minding her own business.

The three of them began to eat.

…

Later that night when they were back at the townhouse, Buck and Zofia were talking about their impression of Marcia.

"I have a feeling you were right." Buck said "About Joseph actually falling in love with her. I mean, who wouldn't?"

"Should I be worried?" Zofia jokingly said earning her a laugh from Buck.

"Seriously though, I really wish things work out for them."

"Remember Seb, Joseph's going to arrest them."

"Just her father. I'm sure that when it comes down to it, he'll be like 'I can't do it, I love her too much'."

Zofia laughed. "Just like in the movies."

Buck sighed. "Love is both a blessing and a curse." He said, getting up from the couch. "Well, I'm going to bed. Nice acting today by the way, Marcia believed that you actually wanted to be my wife."

_If only you knew._

Zofia thought to herself. Meredith's words never left her, and after hearing everything Buck said about their supposed marriage a while ago only convinced her not to lie to herself anymore.

_I wasn't pretending._


	6. Chapter 6

It was almost midnight when a man stood outside of a house, yelling a woman's name. He was drenched in the pouring rain, and everyone else on that street were probably getting ready to kick his ass, but he didn't care. All he cared about was getting the woman inside to poke her head out the window and face him. Eventually, he managed to get her to do so.

"What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't leave for that job in Paris yet. Not with how we left things."

"With how _you _left things." The woman said.

"I know its my fault. That's why I'm trying to fix things between us."

Thunder cracked loudly, making them both jump. "It's a little too late for that, don't you think?"

"Please, let me just talk to you. I need to set things straight."

"So now you want to talk?" the woman snarled "But when you were about to leave, you acted like I didn't exist."

"I had to!" the man desperately yelled "I couldn't face you because I was too weak. I knew that if I had spent more time with you, it would hurt more when I have to leave. I avoided you because I was scared, but now I know that was stupid. I should have spent every last moment I had here with you because I…I love you! I love you so much!"

The man was crying by now, and more so when he looked up and saw that the woman was no longer by the window. He called for her but received no response. Then he heard the front door of the house open. It was the woman, and she was charging at him, wrapping him in a tight embrace. They kissed and as they did, the rain stopped.

"You watch this kind of crap?"

Zofia turned down the TV as Buck sat down next to her, dmr in hand. "Hey, be thankful its in english. And what are you doing?"

"Cleaning it. We're scouting the suspected hideout of the white masks Marcia's father is funding soon and I don't want this malfunctioning when we do. Don't mind me."

Buck began to disassemble his firearm and Zofia turned the volume back up. The man and the woman were both back inside, drying themselves with towels.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to hear that." The woman said.

"You have no idea how long I wanted to say it."

The woman smiled as she held the man's hand. "What about your job?"

The man shrugged. "There will be more job opportunities, but there's only one you."

Hearing this made the woman hesitant, which earned her a question from the man. "What's wrong?"

"You say that now, but what about in the future?"

"I love you and only you." The man reassured her.

"You will not love any other woman? Even after five years?"

"Yes."

"What about ten years."

The man took a second to think. "No. I would love some other woman by then."

The woman looked shocked. "What? Who?"

The man pulled the woman closer and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Our daughter."

The two of them shared a passionate kiss and the credits rolled.

"God, that was so cheesy. You actually like this Zo?" Buck asked, though when he looked at Zofia, she looked serious. Maybe even a bit sad.

"I wish my marriage was like that." Was all she said.

"Zofia…"

"I wish I had met someone like you all those years ago." Zofia added. "Although even if I did, I wouldn't deserve them anyway."

"Zofia, we've been over this."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Zofia waved Buck off, acting annoyed at him.

"Then why are you-"

The sound of a phone vibrating on the table interrupted Buck.

"So who's calling you this time?"

Buck looked confused. "That's your phone."

This took Zofia by surprise, more so when she saw it was from her sister.

She answered it just as Buck left to give her some privacy. "Hello?"

"Zo, its me."

"Yeah, I figured as much." Zofia said "What made you call? And why are you whispering?"

"Oh, Julien's asleep right now. Listen, your-"

"Wait, Nizan? Why would he be sleeping next to you?" Zofia cut her off "Isn't it way past midnight there?"

"That's not important right now Zo. Jeremiah and Sofie showed up today, looking for you." Ela said "Why didn't you tell them you were going on an operation? Why did you say he was busy, did you not want him going with you?"

"I had my reasons Ela, if I didn't tell you then you don't have to know."

Ela took a second before she answered, maybe she was about to argue but decided against it. "Did you tell Sebastien?"

Zofia was taken by surprise. Does Ela know about how Buck had been helping her? And just how much does she know?

"Why do I have to tell him?" Zofia asked, trying to keep Ela from realizing how close she was to finding her out.

"Because the only reason he's there is because you lied about your husband." Ela said "He's doing his best to try and help you, the least you can do is be honest with him."

Zofia was right. "How do you-"

"We're both worried about you Zofia. You can't just shoulder these things alone."

"What I do about my problems is for me to decide." Zofia seethed "The two of you need to learn not to stick your noses in other people's fucking business."

Zofia ended the call before Ela could say anything else. She threw her phone to the sofa and yelled for Buck.

"What's wrong?"

"You told Ela?" Zofia all but yelled at him "I told you all that in confidence Sebastien!"

"She already knew." Buck said, not even bothering to deny it. "She knew you were troubled, she just couldn't approach you. Not with how she treated you when your father died."

"She…she did?"

"Yes. She told me not to but I asked you about it anyway and I told her what happened." Buck said.

"You said that it would stay between the two of us."

"I know, and I'm sorry. Its just that there are things about you that she knows more about than I do."

"So everything that I said, cried about, you told her?" Zofia asked, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

Buck guiltily looked away, giving Zofia her answer. "I can't believe this."

"I just wanted to help, Zofia."

"Why!" Zofia yelled "Why are you so hell bent on helping me? Why can't you just let me work this out on my own?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Buck asked "I care about you Zo."

Thankfully, Zofia was pissed so she could blame the redness of her face on that.

The two of them stood there, staring at each other in silence.

"Do you really mean that?"

"Why wouldn't I? We're friends aren't we?"

Even though she was married, hearing that still made her die inside a little. She took a deep breath to calm herself down. "Don't you ever do that again. You understand?"

Buck nodded. "Good." Zofia said "Glad we could work things out, _dear._"

Buck smiled as he heard Zofia play the married card the way he does. He didn't get in as much trouble as he expected.

A phone rang again, this time it was Buck's. He looked at the caller ID and showed it to Zofia. "Its Meredith." He said as he put it on speaker and answered it.

"Hey Seb."

"Hey, you're on speaker phone. Say hi to Zofia."

"Oh, perfect. I was about to call you too." Meredith said "Get your gear ready, we're heading to a white mask hideout."

"Now?"

"Why do you think I'm calling you?" Meredith asked "I'm already getting the car ready."

"Ok, we'll be out in a few minutes."

Buck ended the call and went to get their gear he stashed in the closet and put it on the coffee table so they can check if they have everything.

"Should I be worried that you and Meredith are calling each other?" Zofia asked as she stuffed her spare mags into her vest.

"I didn't tell her what I told Ela. For all she knows, you're still happily married to me."

"That's not what I meant."

"What?" Buck asked, taking a moment from loading his spare mags to look at her. "Then what did you mean?"

"Nothing." Zofia said "Keep going, we have to leave soon."

Knowing that she was right, Buck let it slide for now. The two of the put their vests on and slung their guns over their shoulder then went outside to meet with Meredith.

"Where's this hideout?"

"You'll see." Meredith said as she drove out of the parking lot.

…

"You're pregnant?"

Zofia nervously stood in front of her father, head hung low and shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Her heart began to race, the fact that her father was just standing there silently was a million times more intimidating than if he were yelling at her.

Her father squinted at her, deciding which of the hundreds of questions he has he'll ask first. He finally settled on the one Zofia didn't answer. "Who's the father?"

"A co-worker." Zofia guiltily whispered.

"You're going to have to narrow that down for me Zofia."

Zofia had a feeling that her father knew all about her acts of debauchery in the workplace and his request only confirmed it for her. "Jeremiah."

"Jeremiah." Her father repeated "You just met him last week. Last fucking week!"

Yep, now he raised his voice. It took him long enough.

"Dad, I-"

"I knew, Zofia." Her father cut her off "Sorry for the term but I knew how much of a whore you were. I didn't say anything because I figured that if you were ok with sleeping with nearly anyone, you'd at least make sure things like this won't happen. Apparently I was wrong."

"I'm sorry." Zofia said, her voice strained from holding her tears back.

Her father sighed. "I know you are. But that doesn't change anything."

"So what now?" Zofia asked, afraid of what her father will do to her as punishment.

"As much as I want to keep scolding you, I won't. You're thirty one Zofia, you're already an adult. You got yourself into this mess, you should be the one to get yourself out. Just know that if you kill that child before its even born, you'll be buried alongside it. Give it a proper life, it's the least you could do."

Her father left her apartment and left Zofia standing there, hand still clutching the positive pregnancy test. Hand shaking in anger, she threw at the wall so hard it broke in two. She collapsed to her knees and all the tears she had been holding back were finally released.

Once she had calmed down, she grabbed her phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Jeremiah, its me."

"Zofia?" she didn't blame him for being surprised. She did say that after their one night stand, they won't talk anymore.

"Yeah. Are you free right now? Can we meet?"

"Uh, sure." More confusion. She also said that the two of them were only going to do it once.

"Good. Go to the coffee shop near the office."

Jeremiah hung up and went to leave, heart thumping so hard she felt it in her ears. She reached the coffee shop and saw Jeremiah sitting alone at a table. She took a deep breath, despite what she kept telling herself, she couldn't do this.

But she has to.

Giving Jeremiah the most casual greeting she could manage, she sat in front of him.

"Hey." Jeremiah greeted back "Thanks for last week by the way. If I knew that was how GROM welcomed their new recruits, I would've enlisted a long time ago."

"Yeah, about that." Zofia began "I...I'm pregnant."

Zofia watched as Jeremiah's smile fade away and have its place taken by dread. "What?"

"Don't make me say it again, it won't change anything."

Jeremiah was at a loss for words. "You said you were on the pill. You told me to cum inside you."

"Keep your voice down for fuck's sake, I don't want people hearing this." Zofia yelled at him in a whisper, if that makes sense "Its my fault alright, I just wanted to-"

"Damn right its your fault. How could you take that risk?"3

By now, they were getting a lot of people's attention as Zofia tried to calm him down. "Jeremiah, relax. Let's talk about this properly."

"I-I can't do this. I have to go."

Jeremiah uncomfortably left, and after sitting there for a moment, Zofia left as well. She got in her car and hit the steering wheel in anger, although she wasn't sure about what she's angry at. She can't blame Jeremiah for his reaction, since that's how'd she react too if she were in his position. Perhaps she was just mad at herself.

The next day came around and Zofia found herself in her office doing paperwork, although she was mostly pondering over what she would do about work over the course of her pregnancy. She could always file for leave, although her reputation and being gone for nine months wouldn't really be subtle, which shouldn't be a problem since every man here already knows, but there were still a handful of people that still think she doesn't sleep with just anyone, Meredith for example.

Someone tapped on her desk, taking her attention. She looked up and saw Jeremiah.

He cut her off just as she was about to say something. "Look, first of all I'm sorry for just leaving like that."

"Jeremiah, its fine."

"No its not, and I'm trying to make amends."

Zofia noticed that Jeremiah was hiding something behind his back. She had a pretty good idea what it was, and she wasn't sure if she could accept it.

"Jeremiah, you don't have to pay child supp-"

"Marry me."

Ok, that was not what she was expecting at all. She stared at him, dumbfounded. "What?"

"I thought about it all night. You need a husband, and that child deserves a father. It's the right thing to do so marry me."

"Hold on, you're going to fast Jeremiah. We can't just up and get married."

"Why not? Let's go to court right now."

"What about paperwork? I'm not even sure fraternization is allowed in GROM."

"I don't want to hear that from _you _of all people." Jeremiah said "You've never pet that stop you before, why start now?"

Zofia rubbed her temples. "Hang on, this is way too sudden. Give me some time to think about it."

"You know where to find me when you do. Think about our child Zofia."

Jeremiah left her alone with her thoughts again, now with something more to think about. She called her sister and asked her to meet up, and although Ela was arrogant at first, she agreed once Zofia had explained her fuck up to her.

"Wait, he proposed?" Ela asked as she took a sip from her beer "You didn't ask him to, dad didn't threaten him to, he proposed all on his own?"

"Yes. What do I do?"

"Marry his ass!" Ela yelled at her "You get knocked up and the guy is owning up to it. You know how lucky you are? Some don't even respond to the texts."

"What about him though? I don't want to ruin his chance of finding a woman he actually loves."

"You think he hasn't thought of that?" Ela asked "He threw that away for the sake of your child. He's making a huge sacrifice because of your mistake. Can't you do the same? You dragged him into this in case you're forgetting."

Zofia slammed her head on the table. "This is my punishment isn't it?"

"Hey, he seems like a nice guy. And if you're willing to lie about being on the pill just so he doesn't stop, I'm assuming he's good in bed so, who knows? Maybe you'll grow to love him."

Zofia whined, hoping with all her heart that Ela was right.

The next day, she found herself standing next to Jeremiah at city hall as a judge read them their marriage rights. She was lost in her own thoughts again, this time wondering how she managed to fuck up this badly.

"Hey, did you hear me?"

Zofia snapped out of her daze. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I said, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Zofia looked at Jeremiah. _Here goes nothing._

"I do."

…

"Zofia, wake up."

She slowly opened her eyes, Buck's face the first thing that greets her. "We're here."

He handed her her rifle and the two of them walked over to Meredith, who was proned at her vantage point, looking through her binoculars.

"See anything?"

"No. None of them had gone outside." Meredith said "We have to go closer."

"We can drone it out if you want."

"No drones. If they see them, they'll know the place is compromised. If they report it to Marcia's father, he might get paranoid and won't show up at the wedding."

"If _we_ get caught down there, that will happen anyway and we'll get killed in the process."

"Then we just have to make sure we don't get caught."

"She's right Seb." Zofia said as she began to screw on a suppressor on her rifle. "Drones can't take out the person who spotted them before they can report it to others."

Even after saying that though, Zofia still didn't feel good about this plan, but she was grateful that there was something to finally take her mind off of things. She watched as Buck and Meredith also attached suppressors on their guns as well.

Time to go to work.


	7. Chapter 7

Zofia, Buck and Meredith slowly made their way through the multiple intertwined alleyways leading up to the main building of the white mask hideout. They were crouched down as they tried not to make any noise that will give them away, which was hard considering how quiet everything was.

"I don't like this." Buck whispered "Its too quiet."

"Your whispering isn't helping Sebastien. Do you want us to be heard?"

"Shut up, both of you." Meredith shushed them "I think I hear someone."

True enough, a white mask rounded the corner and got three stabs, one in the gut, one on the chest and one in the neck. As the white mask fell to the ground, where it formed a huge pool of blood, Meredith wiped her knife clean, an annoyed expression present on her face.

"That was clearly mine."

"You didn't say anything so its fair game."

"Of course I didn't say anything. Otherwise we'd be heard."

"Then that's no longer our fault." Buck and Zofia answered.

Meredith groaned, about to make a comment about how hard the two of them try to look in sync when the radio on the white mask's corpse came to life. A man's voice came out, speaking Polish so Buck was completely lost but one look at Zofia and Meredith told him that it wasn't good.

"What is he saying." Buck asked.

Meredith and Zofia came to an agreement and the former grabbed the radio, gave it a short answer and shut it off.

"Hey, don't ignore me." Buck snapped at them, annoyed from being ignored.

"Relax, the man was just checking in. All I said was that everything's fine."

"Don't you think he'd notice the change in voice?"

"Apparently not." Meredith said "At least we know that this place isn't completely empty."

"A single white mask doesn't mean this place is a hideout Meredith."

"I'm aware of that Zofia." Meredith said as she unzipped her jacket "Take her clothes off."

Buck looked at the dead white mask then back to Meredith. "Pardon?"

"You heard me Sebastien." Meredith said as she began to undo her pants as well "I'm going in to investigate."

"First of all, stop changing in front of me."

"Stop looking." Meredith shot back.

"You can't just walk in there wearing those clothes. For one, they're covered in blood."

"I'll just say I just killed someone. I mean, they _are _terrorists."

"Why are you so relaxed about this?" Zofia asked "I agree with Sebastien. This is too dangerous."

"How else can we do this then? If we use your drones when we're this close to the building, they'd notice even more."

"But-"

"Hey, I'm already the one volunteering for this aren't I? I'll just take a quick look inside then leave. That's all."

Zofia groaned. "Fine. We'll be by the car so we can come pick you up if you get caught."

"If I get caught you run. No need to add even more risk."

"We're not just leaving you there." Buck said.

"You won't." Meredith said as she put the mask on "Because I won't be getting caught."

The three of them went in opposite directions, Buck and Zofia heading to the car. Stowing their guns in the trunk, Buck and Zofia then entered the car and started the engine, ready to go at a moment's notice should they have the need to.

"Does she usually do this?"

"Who? Meredith?"

"Yeah." Buck said "I never thought her to be the mission comes first type. You know, like how the old Six was."

"She usually isn't. Its just a different story when it comes to white masks."

Buck looked at Zofia for a second then looked away. "There seems to be more to that, but I won't ask. It would be rude if I asked someone other that her about that."

Zofia raised an eyebrow at him in amusement. "You really are Canadian aren't you?"

"That supposed to mean something?"

"Only what you think it would." Zofia said "You're too nice."

"Well, I am your-"

"Shut the fuck up." Zofia saw it coming a mile away and yet she fell for it anyway "I wasn't talking about you being nice to me. I meant to everyone, and its actually kind of annoying."

"Hey, Meredith and Marcia were nice to me. I was just returning the favor."

Zofia raised her eyebrows. "What about the kid who spilled his drink on you."

"He's a kid, did you want me to yell at him?"

"The guy who tried to mug us at the gas station."

"He just had his ass handed to him by three different people. He's had enough."

Zofia leaned back on her chair. "You know, I have a feeling all this…kindness of yours is just a façade."

"And what exactly would I be hiding?"

Zofia shrugged. "I don't know, some corny bullshit you usually see in some teenage love story book or in some dumb fanfiction on the internet like, you're actually very sad but instead of trying to help yourself you just try to make others happy."

"I have no idea what the hell you're talking about." Buck said, although Zofia noticed a slight change in his expression. She didn't have much time to dwell on that tough, since Meredith radioed them to come pick her up.

"They didn't notice you?" Buck asked, making Zofia think he was eager to change the topic.

"No. But they might if I stay here any longer so if you don't mind, hurry please."

Buck and Zofia nodded at each other before driving down from their vantage point. Now that that was out of the way, there was only one thing left they had to worry about.

The wedding.

…

Buck got another glass of water to the face after he refused to wake up from Zofia's previous attempts.

"I asked you nicely several times Seb." Zofia stated while Buck was cussing at her.

"The wedding is in eight hours Zofia, what's the rush?"

"In case you're forgetting Sebastien, this is still an operation. Plus we're on the main table so we can't just wake up thirty minutes before and hope for the best."

Buck groaned as he threw his now wet blanket off. "Fine. But I'm taking a long shower."

"You do that and you won't get any breakfast."

Zofia smirked as she saw Buck sit down at the table not more than ten minutes after he entered the bathroom. Apparently his hunger was stronger than his desire to be petty. She served him his breakfast and they began to eat.

"If you have something to say just say it." Buck said, not needing to look up from his plate to know the woman in front of him kept stealing glances.

"Your hair is messy." Zofia pointed out.

"Why do you think I wear a beanie?"

Zofia shook her head. "No way. You're not going to a wedding like that."

Zofia stood up and walked to the bathroom then came back with a pair of scissors. Buck caught a glimpse and stood up, his hands up in defense.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"What does it look like? I'm going to cut it."

"Like hell you are!"

"Relax Seb, I cut Sofie's hair all the time."

"I don't want fucking pigtails Zo."

Zofia put her hands on her hips and pouted. "Its insulting that you think that's all I can do. Just sit down and I'll prove you wrong."

"You just said we were in a hurry."

"Joseph texted me, he said to take our time."

Buck looked at her in disbelief. "Then why did you wake me up this early?"

"I wanted to cut your hair."

"Seriously?" Buck asked "This makes me glad we're not actually married."

Zofia looked offended, but was more sad than angry and Buck realized what he said was nowhere near sensitive to her situation. "Oh shit. Zo, I didn't mean it like that."

"Then how did you mean it?"

Buck found himself unable to think of how to cover his ass. Zofia just stared at him as she waited for his response. "That's what I thought."

"Zofia I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking, please, I didn't mean that."

Zofia sighed. "You better let me cut your damn hair if you want me to forgive you."

Buck had no choice but to agree and he swore he saw Zofia's mood do a complete one eighty once he turned around. She sat him in a chair, tied a blanket around his neck and began cutting. Holding his breath, Buck hoped for the best.

…

"Are you sure you want to do this."

Ela sat across from her sister, worried about her for once. If there was anything Zofia can take away from this, other than a daughter, was that at least she and her sister were actually getting along. At least for now.

"I have to. I need to make sure this won't happen again."

"Why? Do you feel like you need to punish yourself?" Ela asked "This isn't something you just do on a whim. Once its done there's no going back."

"You think I didn't think of that? I need to do this Ela. It's the least that I deserve." Zofia said "I love Sofie with all my heart but I don't want an accident like this happening again."

"You just gave birth. Give yourself some time to recover."

"Its fine. I need to do this now while I'm still on maternity leave."

"Then it looks like I won't be able to stop you. Have you told dad?"

"I already gave him a granddaughter, I don't think he'll mind if I do this."

Ela raised her eyebrows. "Is that what you've been telling yourself?"

Zofia didn't meet her gaze and Ela sighed. "Well, good luck."

"Thanks." Zofia said, her head down on the table.

Ela groaned in disgust. "God, being nice to you feels so weird. Uh, your clothes look like shit."

"And blonde doesn't look good on you." Zofia chuckled. "Seriously though, thank you."

"Whatever." Ela said, giving Zofia a headpat that was a little too forceful just because she didn't want her sister to know she cares about her.

…

Joseph stowed the gun he was holding once he saw that it was Zofia and Buck that came out of the elevator. He let them in and gave them each a drink as they sat down on the couch.

"So, how are we doing this?" Buck asked. "And where's Meredith?"

"She's the maid of honor. She took Marcia out for the day."

"And who's your best man?" Zofia asked.

"A fellow agent. He's getting everything ready at the reception hall."

"Reception hall? You mean to tell me we won't bag Marcia's dad the minute we see him?"

Joseph shook his head. "No. Way too many civilians. The reception hall is about thirty minutes away from any residential areas. Less risk that way."

"Ok, what's the plan?"

"Just push through the wedding service normally, don't do anything that will scare of Michal. In the reception, when Marcia and I start dancing, help the other operators secure the area. Make sure no one can leave once we arrest Michal."

"You think he'll go quietly?"

"No." Joseph said "In fact, I'm sure he has as much back up as we do, if not more so be ready for that. Protect the civilians no matter what."

"Does that include Marcia?"

"What do you think?" Joseph asked "If you have something you want to say just say it."

Buck shook his head. "Nope. Nothing at all."

"Good." Joseph said in a way that was almost threatening. "Bring your guns but keep them in the trunk. Don't use them unless you have to."

Zofia and Buck nodded, signaling to Joseph that they were listening. "Meredith will be back by noon, more or less and she'll pick you up. Don't be late please, I want everything to be perfect today."

"Just like an actual wedding."

Joseph paused, looking uncertain. "Yeah, almost like an actual wedding."

"If that's all, we should get going if we want to be ready in time."

"Uh, yeah, you can go now." Joseph said, looking deep in thought. "See you at the wedding."

"What was that all about?" Zofia asked Buck as they went down the elevator and to their car.

"What do you mean?"

"The whole thing about protecting Marcia."

"Don't tell me you didn't notice it." Buck said "Joseph was nervous about today."

"And you're not?"

"No, or at least not for the same reason Joseph is."

Zofia looked at Buck in confusion. "What are you going on about?"

"Marcia!" Buck said, exasperated "If you were in his shoes, you think you could do it? You think you could throw away a three year relationship with someone just like that?"

"But Marcia's just part of his cover."

"You saw her too didn't you? Who wouldn't fall in love with that?" Buck asked "Besides, you spend enough time with someone and you'll learn to love them. Kind of like how I feel about you."

Zofia was shifting when Buck told her this and she missed a gear because of it. They heard the spund of metal grinding against metal and Zofia felt the need to verbally apologize to the car.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean exactly what I said. I love you." Buck asked, way too indifferent about how he was saying the things he was saying. "Platonically. In case it wasn't obvious."

The fact that it wasn't obvious to Zofia made her want to jump in front of their car and let it run her over. Buck noticed her expression though, and of course he teased her about it.

"Wait, did you think I meant something else? You're not falling for me are you?"

Zofia tried her best to act natural. "In your dreams." She scoffed.

"In my dreams, or in yours?"

"Definitely in yours." Zofia said, and gesturing to Sebastien that she wants to focus on her driving, mostly because if this went on any longer, she'll slip up.

They reached their townhouse and they both got dressed, with Buck loading their gear in the car once he was finished. He came back inside and sat on the couch, watching TV as he waited for Zofia to finish. Eventually, she came out of the bedroom, unable to look Buck in the eye with the same confidence she usually presents.

"How do I, uh, how do I look?" she shyly asked.

For a second, Buck was speechless but his teasing nature came back almost instantly. "I'd give you a standing ovation but I'm hard right now."

"Sebastien!" Zofia yelled, although she was chuckling when she did so.

"Relax, I'm kidding." Buck said, standing up to show her he was telling the truth.

"You better be. Now help me zip this up, will you?"

Zofia turned around and held her hair out of the way, exposing her bare back to Buck. He stepped closer and grabbed the zipper, only now noticing that Zofia was a lot paler than he remembered. Slightly darker than her sister's complexion, but still pretty pale. A perfect complement to the white strap of the bra she's wearing. This made Buck wonder if she had matched her underwear.

"Hey Seb." Zofia called out, almost as if she knew what his perverted brain was thinking of right now. "What the hell's taking so long? You're not checking me out are you."

Buck quickly zipped up Zofia's dress. "In your dreams."

Zofia smirked when she turned to face him. "In my dreams, or in yours?"

The two of them sat down in front of the TV, listening to the mindless chatter coming from it as they waited for Meredith, who was apparently still two hours out. When she finally ran out of things to look at on her phone, Zofia put it down.

"You know what's kind of sad, Seb?"

"Hmm?"

"I may be married for six years, but this is the first wedding I'll be going to."

"That's beyond sad Zo, that's depressing."

Zofia didn't know what response she was expecting actually. "Wow, thanks for that."

Buck shrugged. "Well sometimes when you fish for complements, you get a boot."

"I wasn't-, nevermind."

"You're right though. It is kind of sad." Buck said "You missed a lot. The vows, the kiss, the first dance…"

"I get it Sebastien." Zofia said flatly "What are you trying say?"

"What I'm saying is…" Buck got up, turned the TV volume down and played a love song from his phone. "…I want you to dance with me."

Zofia looked at the hand Buck had offered her and blinked. "You serious?"

"Well I don't want us looking like fools when we dance later."

"You mean to tell me you had plans of dancing with me later?"

Buck acted like Zofia just asked the dumbest question he ever heard. "Why wouldn't I want to dance with my beautiful wife?"

Zofia laughed as she shook her head. "You're such an idiot."

Still though, she took his hand and they slow danced as they waited for Meredith.


	8. Chapter 8

Marcia's eyes were twinkling, like that of a child who was fawning over something adorable. Well, technically that was what she was doing anyway since she and Meredith walked in on Zofia and Buck slow dancing in the living room. The two of them immediately pushed the other off once they heard her, but needless to say it was too late at that point.

"Awww!" Marcia yelled "You guys are so-"

"We get it Marcia." Zofia said, sounding more annoyed than she meant to, but Marcia wasn't fazed by it at all. In fact, it might have even made her happier.

"I'm sorry for interrupting, Zofia." Marica said "We can leave again if you want to finish."

"No time for that, we're in a hurry remember?" Meredith said. "Get your things and put them in the car."

"Hey, why is Marcia still woth you?" Zofia asked Meredith once they broke away from the others.

"Oh, about that." Meredith said, looking over her shoulder to make sure Marcia and Buck were far enough from them. "One of our guys spotted one of the bridesmaids meet up with someone on our database. Guess what he is."

"White mask?"

"Right on the money. The other operators are making adjustments at the reception hall. Change of plans, we're taking Michal as soon as he steps foot in there."

"Have you told Joseph?"

Meredith nodded. "He told us to go on as if nothing happened so that we won't arouse suspicion. I came back here because as amazing as I am, I'm still going to need back up."

Zofia smirked. "So that's all we are to you?"

"Sebastien's definitely worth more to me than that. You on the other hand, I'm not so sure."

"Fuck you too, Mere."

"Speaking of Sebastien, you mind telling me what that was all about?"

Zofia rolled her eyes. "We were just dancing Meredith."

"Really?" Meredith gave Zofia a shit-eating grin "Because you were snuggling a bit too close to him back there. Who knows where that could have went if Marcy and I hadn't shown up."

"Because sex is the only thing in your mind isn't it? As if you actually have someone to do it with."

"That's low, but I guess I deserve it." Meredith said "Come on, let's go."

Zofia and Meredith walked outside where Buck and Marcia were already waiting by the car. They weren't close enough to hear their whole conversation but Zofia had a pretty good idea about what it was.

"Was it your idea or hers?"

"Mine. I just saw her in that dress and I remembered when we first danced at our wedding. I guess I just couldn't help myself."

Zofia groaned when she found out that she was right. "Get over it already, Marcia." She said "Sebastien, can I have a second?"

"Uh, sure."

Zofia waited until Meredith and Marcia were inside the car before she told Buck the change of plans. "We're taking Meredith and Marcia to meet up with the other bridesmaids and then we're headed to Joseph. Until we're at the reception hall, we need to make sure nothing happens to him."

The two of them entered the car as well and they drove off.

…

"I'm going to take a shower."

Zofia watched as Jeremiah walked away and sighed. She laid on her back, and onto the bed which was drenched in their sweat and…other fluids. She felt hot and sticky all over, which didn't surprise her, seeing as how she and Jeremiah had been going at it like animals not too long ago.

The problem was that even though she desperately wanted and needed a shower, she couldn't bring herself to get in there with Jeremiah, which was utter bullshit when you look at it. Not only is he her husband, they just took each other to heaven and back and yet she feels too awkward to join him in something so trivial for two people who agreed to spend the rest of their lives with each other.

_He should have offered._ She told herself, but was then immediately countered by the other, other voice in her head.

_You shouldn't need permission for that, dumbass. It's a given to shower with someone you just had sex with, especially if its your partner._

Zofia put a pillow on top of her face so she could groan as loud as she wanted. The post-fuck high was already starting to wear off, but that didn't help her make up her mind at all. After mentally yelling at herself a couple of times, she finally got up and made her way to the bathroom, only to be met with Jeremiah standing at the door.

"Shower's all yours." Jeremiah said before pushing past her and laying down on the bed.

_Nice one dumbass._

_Shut up._

By the time Zofia was done, Jeremiah was already fast asleep. She lied down as well and they both fell asleep facing away from each other. Before she closed her eyes, she saw Sofie in her crib, soundly asleep and Zofia sighed.

So this was her life now.

…

Joseph stood at the altar, nervously tapping his feet. With Buck and the other operators on one side, and Zofia and Meredith keeping an eye on the bridesmaids on the other, he knew that he was safe, but he was by no means comfortable.

"Hey, you alright there?" Zofia whispered.

"I'm…keeping it together." Joseph whispered back "At least being nervous on your wedding day looks normal."

"Don't worry, we're all here to make sure nothing happens to you or to Marcia. Right Sebastien?"

Buck seemed to be out of it when Zofia called him out. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, we're here for you."

Zofia was confused but decided not to ask since the main doors of the church opened, revealing Marcia as her father walked her down the aisle. Zofia glanced at Joseph, who staring at the two in awe. It was either because the man he had been after for three years was finally there, out in the open where every operator with them can arrest him, or because Buck was right and that he had fallen in love with Marcia and her beauty took his ability to speak away.

For the sake of what they were about to do, Zofia hoped that it wasn't the latter.

Michal and Marcia got closer to the altar and Joseph saw that Michal seemed to be more nervous than he was. The reason soon became clear when he saw him reach inside his coat and pull out a pistol.

"Gun!" Meredith yelled as she and the other operators pulled Joseph and the other civilians with them to the ground.

Joseph had his eyes closed when a shot rang off and when he opened it, he saw Marcia and her father fighting over his gun. Meredith fired at the ceiling, grabbing both of their attention. She kept her gun trained on Michal and Buck, Zofia and the other operators soon joined her.

"Michal, you're coming with us."

"Like hell he is!" someone from the pews shouted.

A good portion of the churchgoers stood up, pointing their firearms at everyone by the altar. Joseph looked around. Even with the other operators with them, they were still at a huge disadvantage.

"Dad, what are you doing?"

"Marcia, listen to me." Joseph said, trying his best to keep the tension down before everyon killed each other. "Your father has been funding the terrorists standing behind you and we've been trying to arrest him for years."

"Don't listen to him Marcia!" Michal yelled "He has done nothing but lie to you while you were together. He does not love you, he just wants to marry you for money."

"Even if that's true, that's not something to kill him over. What are you really involved with?"

Michal furrowed his brow, thinking on what to say to his daughter to make her believe him. He chose not to say anything at all and instead, knock her out with a pistol whip. Joseph pulled out his own gun and he would have shot Michal then and there if Meredith hadn't stopped him.

"You shoot him, we're all dead."

"I'm walking out of here." Michal said.

"The civilians first." Buck said.

"Why? So you can shoot me when they're gone?"

Zofia dropped her gun and told the others to follow. "There, you happy now?"

Michal stared at them for a second before nodding to the white masks to let the other guests leave. Once they were all gone, he slowly backed away, carrying Marcia with him while Joseph and the others watched.

"Make sure they don't make it out of here." He told one of the white masks.

He disappeared from view and they heard a car start, then drive away. The white masks waited a bit so to give Michal time to get away before they surrounded Joseph and the others.

"When you hear it, take out whoever's closest to you." Meredith whispered to them.

Before any of them could ask her what exactly it was they had to hear, something in the parking lot exploded and Meredith sprung into action, tackling one of the white masks to the ground and grabbing his gun, shooting another white mask just as Buck and Zofia did the same. The others soon joined in as well and they managed to take a chunk out of the white masks before the ones left took cover behind the pews.

They did the same, grabbing every gun on the floor that they could get their hands on on the way.

"Joseph, go after Marcia. We'll take care of things here." Meredith said "Zofia, go with him, we'll cover you."

Meredith and the others shot at the pews where the white masks were hiding to make sure they won't peek while Zofia and Joseph ran out through a side entrance.

With the keys to Meredith's car, Zofia drove after Michal with Joseph at the passenger seat, loading a grenade launcher. "You know where you're going?"

Zofia took her phone out. "Meredith put a tracker on Marcia."

Knowing the real-time location of their target, Zofia took every shortcut she could and they were soon on Michal's tail. Zofia got closer and rolled down the passenger side window.

"Take them out."

Joseph stuck out of the window, grenade launcher in hand. He took aim, finger on the trigger, but it never managed to pull it.

"What are you waiting for?"

"I can't. Marcia's in there with him." Joseph said "I…I love her."

Zofia rolled her eyes. _Goddammit Sebastien, you were right._

With a sigh, she sped up. They may have let Michal live, but they're definitely not letting him get away.

…

"Hey Meredith!" Buck yelled over the gunfire.

"What!" Meredith yelled back.

"I've done some shit before but don't you think having a shootout at a church is a bit too much?"

"They shot at us first Sebastien."

A stray bullet hit a statue and it fell, crushing the altar underneath it. "Now that's just disrespectful."

Meredith loaded a new magazine in her pistol. "Worry about that later Seb." She said "I want to go to heaven too, but not this early."

The slide on Buck's pistol went back to reveal its empty chamber. Patting himself for any extra magazines, he threw his pistol away in anger once he didn't find any.

"Well it looks like you will because I'm empty."

Just as Buck had said that, Meredith had fired off her last shot. "Shit."

Meredith looked around. With Joseph and Zofia gone, they were down to a total of five, two of which had no more bullets left. She looked at the three GROM agents with them, all of which were no longer as trigger happy as they were when they actually had bullets to shoot.

"Fall back!" she yelled as she slowly inched from her cover to the side door.

She was the first one out with Buck right behind her. The agents soon followed with one of them catching a bullet to the leg in all of the chaos.

Before Meredith could even say anything, Buck was already charging in to pull that operator out. He got him through the door just as the white masks began pushing them. One such white mask was bold enough to charge at them and managed to get all the way to the door frame before having his head taken off.

Buck looked behind him to see the others just as confused as he was because last time any of them had checked, they were all out of bullets. More gunfire came from inside the church, although the sound of automatic rifles was different from what they had been used to hearing throughout this entire endeavor.

A man with a rifle and full tactical gear approached them and offered them a hand. "Joseph called for us, said you needed help." He said "Got here just in time, don't you think?"

Buck looked at the corpse of the white mask that charged at him. "A little sooner would have been better." He responded "What about Michal?"

"We've take care of that too."

…

Joseph and Zofia slowly approached Michal's wrecked car with their guns up, though there wasn't really any point to it since he was already completely boxed in by the two other cars in front of him and its owners, all whom which are pointing their guns at him as well.

"Its over Michal!" Joseph yelled "Step out of the vehicle."

The driver side window opened and two shaky hands slowly came into view. One of the agents opened the door, pulled him out and cuffed him. Once Michal was out of the way, Joseph rushed to the car to check on Marcia, who was just waking up. She saw Joseph's face and backed away, grabbing her father's gun when she did.

"Stay back!"

Zofia and the other agents raised their guns in response but Joseph signaled for them to lower it. He looked at Marcia as he pulled out his own gun and toss it aside. With both his hands up, he slowly inched closer to her.

"Marcia, listen to me."

"Why should I!" Marcia spat "Everything you told me was a lie. You just used ne to get close to my father."

"That's what I was supposed to do at first, but I did love you. I _do _love you." Joseph said desperately "Everything I told was real. Please, you have to believe me."

The gun shook in Marcia's hand. "How am I supposed to trust you after this?"

"You agreed to marry me didn't you?" Joseph said "That means you feel the same way I do. The Joseph you know, the one I showed you, that's who I really am."

Marcia's eyes began to tear up as she dropped her father's gun. She ran to Joseph and wrapped him in a tight embrace. "No more lies please."

"Nothing but truth from here on out, I promise."

Zofia smiled as she watched the two, thinking about how Buck would react when the man himself put an arm around her.

"Would you look at that?" Buck said "Love wins after all."

Zofia chuckled as she put an arm around his waist and pull him closer. "No wonder we always lose."

"Hey, don't rope me in with you." Buck said "I've one before."

Zofia looked at Buck just in time to capture the expression on his face when he realized he said too much. "Oh really? Do tell me about it."

"I'd rather not."

Zofia saw an opportunity to turn the card Buck always plays against him and she took it. "Aww, come on Seb, you know I get jealous when other women look at my husband."

She expected him to retaliate but instead, Buck turned serious. "Can we please move on, Zofia?"

Even though her curiosity was killing her, she apologized for prying and they just stood there as they watched everything unfold in front of them.

…

"You guys are leaving? But I wanted to get to know you better." Marcia pouted.

"Well they were only here to help us, Marcy." Joseph said "They have to get back to where they belong."

"Wait, if all that was a cover, are you guys actually married or not?"

Zofia wasn't prepared for that question at all, but as always Buck answered without in a heartbeat. "Of course we are. I can't imagine my life without this woman."

"I've said this before, but you guys are so cute!"

Buck chuckled. "And so are you."

Joseph thanked them and he and Marcia went on their way. After clearing things with the agents about what would happen to Michal, Meredith approached Buck and Zofia.

"Come on lovebirds, let's go home."

Buck and Zofia began packing their things when they got home, and while Buck was getting their guns from the car, Zofia took care of his clothes, on of which had a picture fall out from one of its pockets. Bending over to pick it up, she saw that it was of a woman, laughing as Buck gave her a kiss on the cheek.

The door opened behind Zofia, startling her. She hastily put the picture back in the pocket and finished packing Buck's clothes just as he approached her. If the woman in the picture was the one Buck had accidentally mentioned a while ago, then she decided its best not to pry.

"Everything here?" Buck asked as he lifted the duffel bag.

Zofia nodded and he put the bag alongside the others. He then walked back, sat on the sofa and turned the TV on.

"You know the plane will be here early tomorrow, right?"

Buck brushed her off. "Its Marius, he knows I wake up late."

"You're unbelievable." Zofia said "By the way, why did you tell Marcia we're married."

"Don't flatter yourself Zo, you're nice and all but I only said that because I didn't want to break that woman's heart."

"Fair point." Zofia said "Goodnight."

"I just realized, this is the last time I get to say it." Buck said "Goodnight darling. I love you."

Zofia turned around to walk in the bedroom just in time for Buck not to notice that she was blushing.

…

"…haven't talked to you in a while…"

Zofia tossed and turned, trying not to get woken up by what she heard.

"…a lot has happened actually, apparently I'm married now…"

"…its just a cover though…"

"…she's actually a pretty amazing woman, but don't worry…"

"…I'd still prefer to be married to you…"

With a groan, Zofia woke up. She turned to see that Buck wasn't next to her anymore. Realizing that she needed to piss, she got up and after relieving herself, she saw Buck out on the balcony. Even though she knew he was talking to someone, Zofia still approached him. She opened the sliding door and saw him sitting there alone, no phone or anything, just him, a beer and the photo she saw earlier. She immediately realized what he was doing.

Despite that, however, he still tried to hide the picture. "Zofia, what are you doing up?"

Zofia didn't say anything at first. She was thinking of what to say. "What happened Sebastien? With her."

"I…I don't want to talk about it."

"Seb, I didn't pry earlier because I thought it was just a break up, but this is clearly more than that. Talk to me."

"I'm fine." Buck said, although his voice was shaky from holding his tears back. He got up and tried to walk past Zofia but she closed the sliding door in front of him.

Zofia cornered him into the wall. "You forced me to open up about my problems. Now its your turn."

Buck's jaw was clenched, although it wasn't in anger. It took him a few seconds but he finally allowed himself to break down in front of Zofia.

"Her name was Sarah." Buck said through tears "She was my girlfriend at the time, and she wasn't...mentally stable. There were times when she would just break down crying when we were together. We tried everything. Counselling, medication, anything I could do to make her happy, I did it."

Buck took a second to wipe his tears. "At one point, she seemed fine. It looked like she finally beat it, and I was planning to propose to her on our anniversary, today, when I got home from work but on the drive back she called me. She was crying, saying that nothing had helped and that she couldn't take it anymore. She said that she loved me and that she was sorry and that it wasn't my fault, then she hung up. By the time I got home she had shot herself with one of my guns."

"Sebastien…"

"That's why I'm nice to people. If I can make others happy, the way I wasn't able to with her, maybe I can finally forgive myself. When I see that I made others smile, like how I did with you, it only makes me miss her more."

As Buck cried, he felt Zofia pull his head to her chest where she let him cry all his tears away. "That wasn't your fault Sebastien. You did everything you could."

Buck sniffled. "I'm sorry that my problem turned out to be one from some dumb internet fanfiction."

Zofia chuckled. "Don't be. No matter what problem it is, I'll still be here to help you through it."

Buck pulled away and smiled at her. "Thanks." He said "When we first started this operation, I treated you the way I would've treated her, and if that made you uncomfortable at first, I'm sorry."

Zofia was amazed that even know Buck still apologized for something like that. "If that's the case, then you would have been an amazing husband to her."

"In fact…" Zofia knew what her subconscious was planning to do and she didn't approve. Even though Buck was standing in front of her, vulnerable, and even though the mood was right, there was no way she was doing it.

"…for tonight, why don't we actually act like we're married."

_Fuck. _

She slowly leaned in towards Buck, not stopping until their lips were pressed together.


	9. Chapter 9

The feeling of Buck's feet touching the tarmac of one of Hereford's hangars was a bittersweet one. On one hand, it felt good to be home, on the other, that means that everything that happened on their operation was now over. Granted, he will be seeing Meredith again after a few weeks because the information Michal gave up exposed several white mask hideouts and she and Joseph were given the choice to join in raiding all of them since she played a major part in it. Needless to say she took it and Joseph didn't.

The thing he won't be seeing anytime soon, however, would be the woman he was on the operation with. Not only was he no longer her pretend husband, they were also avoiding each other now since they managed to fuck up their relationship so much that just looking at each other makes them cringe so hard that they could kill themselves.

With the lazy excuse of having to put his things in his room first, he managed to avoid going with Zofia to debrief their operation at Harry's. Being in that confined space with her is just way too awkward for him to handle, and he knows she feels the same. With a sigh, he opened the door to the JTF2 quarters, where he saw Frost reading a book in the common room. She greeted him with a smile.

"Hello Sebastien, welcome back."

"Thanks." He said absentmindedly as he put his duffel bag in his room. "Would you look at that, Julien and Ela actually changed my bedsheets."

"They changed mine too. And washed the dishes, cleaned both our rooms, did our laundry and anything else I asked them to. Isn't blackmail wounderful?"

"You little devil."

Frost shrugged. "I couldn't sleep because of them."

"Sorry for that by the way." Buck said, rubbing the back of his neck "You should have slept in Julien's room. I'm sure Emmanuelle would have been more than happy to have you there."

"She wouldn't be as happy when she finds out I don't swing that way."

Buck laughed. "Who's gonna tell her?"

"For now, I'll play along but if she makes a move on me I'll drop the bomb right then and there." Frost said. "Besides, there are other women who have their eyes on Pichon anyway. If ever, they can pick up the pieces."

"That's one way of looking at it." Buck said "A wrong way, but a way nonetheless."

"Why are we talking about this? You just got back and we're debating over your lesbian friend. Tell me about what happened."

"Well, for one there was this guy who fell in love with a woman who was supposed to just be part of his cover."

"That's not good."

"Its great, actually." Buck said "They're now happily married."

"What about you?" Frost asked "You were Zofia's husband remember? How did it go?"

Buck tried his best not to remember what happened last night so that he wouldn't cringe in front of Frost. "I just treated her like how I would've treated Sarah."

"Oh right." Frost said "That was yesterday. You ok?"

"Yeah, I guess." Buck said "Look, I woke up really early today and you know I'm not used to that so if you don't mind, I'm going to sleep."

"You'll miss breakfast."

"Good. The food here tastes like a wet sponge." Buck said as he entered his room, shut the door behind him and dove into his bed.

…

Zofia lied down on her on her own bed, face burued in her pillow as she tossed and turned. She felt like a teenage girl with the way she whined, but she couldn't care less. She already hates herself for what she did anyway.

Why? Why did she have to do that? She couldn't have just comforted Buck normally, she just had to go and pull some shit like that. She groaned loudly into her pillow and she got a knock on her wall from the woman next door because of it.

"Zofia if you don't want to tell me whatever the fuck it is that's bothering you at least stay quiet about it. I'm trying to sleep here!" Ela yelled.

"S-sorry." Zofia apologized.

She looked at her watch. It was a little over ten in the morning. She should be awake by now, right? Zofia grabbed her phone and scrolled through its contacts.

"You awake?" she texted once she had found the correct one.

She watched as three dots bounced up and down as the person on the other end typed their response. "I'm in the mess hall if you need to talk."

Zofia raised her eyebrow at the response but she got up anyway. She made her way the mess hall where Ying had waved at her once she entered.

"How'd you know I needed advice?" Zofia asked as she sat down.

"You always come to me when you do. Hell, everyone does when something's bothering them ajd they can't exactly tell Harry about it."

"Can you blame them though?"

Ying shook her head. "I never said I hated it." She said "Go ahead, tell your mommy Siu what's bothering you."

"I'm older than you." Zofia said, although she wasn't exactly happy about it "And I'm asking this for a friend."

"We're definitely talking about you here, Zo. I'm trying to help you here out of the kindness of my heart, the least you could do is tell me the truth."

Being scolded by Ying actually made Zofia guilty. Mother figure indeed. "Sorry."

"You are forgiven. Go on."

"There's this guy, right, and he's nice and cute and-"

"Slow down there Zo, this sounds like something your daughter should be having problems about, not you. How old is she now, anyway? Seventeen, eighteen?"

"Six."

"Looks like I'm a bit ahead, but in case you're forgetting, you're married."

"That supposed to mean something?" Zofia said, more like a threat than a question.

"Nothing, its just that the way you're talking about him makes it look like you're cheating on your husband with him."

_If only you knew._ "Its not that Siu. But I did something that fucked up our relationship, and when we were getting close, too."

"I'm assuming you have no plans of telling me the details."

Zofia shool her head and Ying sighed. "Then I won't be of much help. If you want to fix things between you two, talk about it. And with him, not me or your sister or anyone else. Him."

"I was afraid you'd say that."

Ying shrugged. "Love it or hate it, its what's right."

"It would be hard though. He and I don't exactly want to see each other right now."

"You'll get through it. I know I did."

"Are you talking about Shuhrat?" Zofia asked "Because this is different. I didn't sleep with someone I hate."

Ying guiltily looked down on her plate. "Shut up Zofia."

"Thanks for the advice." Zofia said "Even though it wasn't much."

"I make do with what you give me, which was next to nothing. Be grateful."

"I am." Zofia got up and walked back to her room, her mind wandering to what Buck could be doing right now.

…

"You're a fucking idiot."

"Thanks Dominic, as if I didn't know that yet." Buck said.

Buck lined up his shot, trying to determine which stripes ball was closest to one of the pockets while Bandit took a sip from his beer. Normally, Buck wouldn't come to him for advice, but he couldn't exactly talk about his problem with just anyone. He needed someone whom he had enough dirt on to make sure they would keep quiet and someone who never sugarcoated anything. Something Bandit perfectly fit the bill of.

"I'm not gonna pretend I know this woman because you clearly won't tell me who she is."

"I told you Dominic, it's a secret. Both for my sake and hers."

"At least tell me her first name."

"How many female operators here have the same first name Dominic?" Buck asked "If I tell you her first name you'd know who she is immediately."

"Last name then."

Buck looked at Bandit in a way that made him realize how stupid he was. He waved his hands to tell Buck to forget what he said. "Moving on. You've been telling me that you fucked up your relationship with this woman, but you're not telling me how."

Buck went over the events of last night and he tried to find any details that he could say to Bandit that wouldn't give everything away. He didn't find any. "I'm not telling you Dominic, for my-"

"For your sake and hers, I get it." Bandit said, frustrated. "I might not know what you did, but I can tell how much its bothering you since I've never seen you like this. If you won't let me help you with this, at least let yourself help yourself."

Buck looked confused. "What?"

"Talk about this problem with someone who knows all the details."

"But the only other person who knows everything is…" Buck realized what Bandit was saying.

"Exactly."

Buck sighed and thanked Bandit. He knew that was what he had to do anyway, but hearing someone else say it made it a million times harder for him to actually do.

…

"For tonight, why don't we actually act like we're married."

Buck was too down to understand what Zofia meant, and when he finally did, the two of them were already locking lips. It took his brain a few seconds to process everything that was happening, and then he pushed her off.

"What the fuck, Zofia?"

"Remember when I said I wish my actual husband was like you? I take it back. I wish _you _were my husband."

"What are you saying?"

"What do you think?" Zofia asked "You're amazing Sebastien. I've felt more loved in the two weeks we've been pretending than in the six years I've been married."

"But it was all pretend remember? It was just a cover."

"Then that means your entire personality is a cover." Zofia said "You were just being yourself the entire time. The marriage might have been fake but the way you treated me wasn't."

"You may have misread some things back there. I wasn't trying to get you to feel like this towards me."

"But you still did." Zofia said.

"Slow down, alright? Think about what you're saying Zofia. This isn't you."

"Good. The me you're referring to is horrible. She's uptight and lonely." Zofia said "I'm not like her anymore, and that's all because of you Sebastien."

Seeing Zofia like this hurt Buck. He knows how much it hurts to fall for someone, and Zofia fell hard. This wasn't meant to say that her feeling were unrequited though. He felt a connection between the two of them. A connection that went deeper than the ones he has with his friends, even his closest ones. It was for this reason that after feeling Zofia's lips on his, he wants nothing more than to pin her against the wall, rip her pants off and fuck her so hard his dick would break and she'd lose the ability to walk, but he can't.

He won't.

"Zofia, I'm sorry but I can't do this." Buck said, almost too apologetically "You're an amazing woman, and I would be lying if I said I didn't feel anything towards you either, but you're married."

"I know that Sebastien, its me we're talking about for fuck's sake. That's the first thing I thought about, but I'm willing to look past it because I-"

"Don't say it." Buck interrupted her because he knew that if she said anything more, he wouldn't be strong enough to reject her the way he has been up until now. "Please. Please don't say it."

"Sebastien…" Zofia pleaded, but she couldn't think of anything else to say. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She was offering her heart to the man in front of her and he was flat out rejecting it. And the worst part was that she couldn't blame him. Her words earlier came back to her. She was right, if love always wins then she was the biggest fucking loser on the planet.

"I'm sorry Zofia. I really like you, but we can't do this. You're married."

Buck opened the sliding door and went back inside, leaving Zofia to wallow in her rejection. "You're right, I am married." She said to herself. "But I'm nowhere near happy."

"Not without you."

…

That night, Buck laid on his bed wide awake as he thought about the advice given to him. Coincidentally, Zofia was in her own bed doing the same. As they sat at the edge of their respective beds, they both came to a decision on what they were going to do.

The minute they both woke up, they'll act like the other doesn't exist.


	10. Chapter 10

It was well past midnight when Zofia found herself lying on her bed and scrolling through her phone since she was unable to sleep. Again. She was just about to shut it off and lie down with her eyes closed for the entire night if she had to when it vibrated in her hand, signaling a notification. She tapped on it, not expecting anything and she was brought to Team Rainbow's facebook page. (Because yes, that exists.)

_Its Sebastien's birthday today. Send him a message to let him know he's on your mind._

"Fuck you facebook." She whispered to herself. With a reminder like that, she just lost any chance of falling asleep for the night.

She went back on forth on whether she should greet him or not. On one hand, things between them were still awkward, but on the other, they were still friends. At least to her, they were. She should at least send him a message, awkward or not. That what she kept telling herself anyway, but morning came and not only was she sleep deprived, she hadn't sent Buck a single letter.

On the other side of the story, Buck woke up at around noon as usual, just in time for him to see his phone had blown up in his sleep. Buck rubbed his eyes awake. With all that has happened in the past few days, he forgot that he was supposed to turn thirty eight today. Scrolling through all the greetings, there were the ones he expected, like Rook and Ela, ones that he didn't, but were welcome anyway, like Hibana, and there were ones that were completely out of left field, like Nokk.

Pocketing his phone, he stepped out of his room and nearly shit himself when something popped in front of him.

"Happy birthday!"

Buck shook all the confetti off. "Thanks Tina."

"I would have given you a gift," Frost said, tossing the party popper aside "but then I realized that that was what I already am."

"Calm down there you narcissist, you talk as if you were my wife." Buck said.

"And you act as if you were my husband." Frost shot back "You can't blame me for getting the wrong idea."

"I'm like that to everyone Tina."

"Even to your guy friends?"

"Its not gay to be nice, Tina." Buck said "If someone were to think I were dating, let's say Dominic for example, just because I'm nice to him, I pity that someone because that would mean no one has ever been nice to them."

"That felt like a personal attack, but ok then." Frost said "Come on, your other friends are probably waiting for you."

As they walked to the mess hall, Buck kept to himself. He still answered Tina the way he usually did whenever she said anything, but he wasn't his chatty self. Out of all the greetings he received, he didn't get one from Zofia. Sure, he wasn't expecting her to greet him, but it still disappointed him when she didn't.

The two of them walked in the mess hall, where Ela and Rook had waved at him from their table as soon as they saw him. He waved back at them and he received a nudge from Frost.

"Go on then." She said, before going off to her own table, where Kapkan and Lesion were waiting for her.

Buck sat down at their table where Rook and Ela immediately began singing to him. He shushed them with a wave of a hand.

"Stop. Don't remind me of how old I am."

"Don't worry gramps, you have about fifty more years in you."

"Either of you call me that again and you won't live long enough to reach my age."

"Yeah, yeah." Ela said before nudging Rook. "Give it to him already."

Buck watched as Rook took out a small gift wrapped box, ribbon and all. He was speechless at first, then he saw what was inside.

"Wow. My…room key." He said in both uncertainty and disappointment "Why am I only getting this now?"

"We actually weren't planning on giving it back, but now Tina's on our asses so…happy birthday."

Buck rolled his eyes as he pocketed his keys. "You guys are unbelievable."

Ela shrugged. "Yeah, we can talk about that, or we can talk about what happened on that operation you've just been on."

"Ooh, let's do that." Rook said, intrigued "How was it like to be married to that ballsack?"

"You know Bosak is my last name too, right?"

Rook waved her off as Buck cringed. Just hearing her name reminded him of what happened that night. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Oof. That bad?" Ela asked "I feel you. I had to put up with her my entire life."

"And so does her husband."

For some reason, Buck felt the need to stand up for Zofia, and he did just that. "Hey, don't talk about Zo like that, alright? She's been through a lot."

The look of confusion on Rook and Ela's face was enough to tell Buck that he said too much.

"What did you call her?" Ela asked him, almost accusingly.

"Zo…fia." Buck said, guiltily avoiding either of their gaze. "I called her Zofia."

"That's not what I heard. If you two had gotten closer then why do you not want to talk about it?" Ela asked. "She's not that bad, and that's coming from me."

"Maybe they got a little too close." Rook pitched in "Took the whole married thing too far and now they can't look at each other because it reminds you of how much you actually like each other but you can't be together because she's still married to someone else."

Buck prayed that his reaction wouldn't give away how Rook had hit the nail on the head. Thankfully, before Rook could say anything else, Ela denied it before he could.

"My sister is a lot of things but a cheater is not one of them." She said "You've been watching to many dramas Julien."

Rook shrugged. "Yeah, fair point." He said, allowing Buck to breathe again now that they were far from the truth again.

"So what did happen?"

"I said I didn't want to talk about it, alright?"

"Fine." Ela said, peeking over Buck's shoulder. "I guess I'll just have to ask her. Hey Zo! Come here!"

Buck looked behind him and sure enough, Zofia was behind them, and after Ela called her she was now approaching them.

"You bitch!" Buck whispered to Ela before trying his best to look like he wasn't there.

"What's wrong?" Zofia asked as she got to their table, addressing everyone there but Buck.

"We were just wondering what happened on that operation of yours that has Sebastien here all bent out of shape."

"I fell for him while we were pretending to be married and I made a move on him on our last night but he rejected me because I'm married and now things are awkward."

Zofia scanned the reactions of everyone at the table. There was Buck's, which was asking her what the fuck she was doing, but she knew that's how he'd react. What she was looking at was Ela's because that was what would tell her if her gamble worked.

"Ok, you and Julien both watch way too many dramas." Ela said "If you didn't want to tell us just say so instead of lying. You're bad at it anyway."

On the outside, Zofia kept her composure but inside she took a huge sigh of relief. Ela was right, she was terrible at lying so she decided to tell them the truth and let them deny it for her. Now she just had to make sure Ela won't be asking her anytime soon.

"Fine. I'll tell you, but only if you two tell me what your relationship is." She said, pointing to Rook and Ela.

"Yeah, nevermind."

That's what she thought. Now all that's left was Buck.

She glanced at him, and as her luck would have it, their eyes met and she looked away so fast that she got whiplash. Looks like she wasn't ready to talk to him yet after all.

"If that's all, then I'll be going."

Buck slumped down onto the table, only to have a pair of hands pull him back up.

"Hey birthday boy."

Buck sighed. "Hey Yumiko."

"Swing by my room later so I can give you your gift." Hibana said, leaning in closer and nibbling on his ear. "Don't keep me waiting."

With a wave to Rook and Ela, Hibana went on her way, now leaving Buck with two things he didn't want to talk about.

"You understood what she meant, right?"

"Yes Julien, I'm not a child." Of course Buck knew what gift Hibana was talking about. He gave her the same one on her birthday. And on christmas. And whenever they got tired of their hands. That wasn't the problem. The problem was Zofia.

Buck had no doubt in his mind that Zofia had heard him, and with her…experience in this sort of thing he knew that she understood what Hibana meant, too. The only thing he wasn't sure of was how she would react. He didn't sense any hints of anger when she walked away, but then again, from the past few weeks he knew that she hid her emotions well, so his guess was as good as anyone else's.

"So will you do it?" Ela asked "Sleep with her, I mean. From how she acted, you two clearly did it before."

"The question is will they do it again."

Buck hadn't thought about that. Back then, it would have been a no-brainer. Before all this started, he would have jumped into Hibana's bed and into Hibana faster than she can ask if he has protection, but with everything that has happened, he wasn't so sure anymore.

He rejected Zofia. Anything that could have happened between them didn't happen. They were just friends. She wouldn't care about who he sleeps with on his birthday.

Or at least that's what he told himself.

"Hey." Rook said, snapping his fingers to get Buck's attention. "Will you guys be doing it again?"

Buck thought about it for a second before finally deciding. "Yes." He said "Yes we will."

…

Zofia stood under the shower, though not even the feeling of hot water running down her skin not enough to calm her down. With her fists clenched, she hit the shower wall in anger.

"You fucking idiot." She whispered to herself.

Why? Why did she have to fall for him? That was the one thing she told herself not to do. She had sworn herself off of anything romantic, partly because she knew that if she cheated, their already rough marriage would never stand a chance. Though if she were honest with herself, she felt that losing the chance of finding actual love was her punishment, and she was willing to serve it.

She didn't have time for love anyway. She didn't prioritize something so…

Her breath hitched as she felt something wet roll down her cheek, and it wasn't from the shower. Who was she kidding. At this point, she didn't want love anymore. She _needed _it. Which is why it hurts more knowing that the person she wanted to get it from and give it to can't be with her.

Wiping her eyes, she stepped out and dried herself before going back to her room. Upon entering, she laid down on her bed with her phone in hand, deciding to finally talk about everything instead of just bottling everything up like always.

Naturally, she first went to Ying on her contacts because mother figure, but then she remembered seeing her and Fuze fighting not too long ago, and knowing how they resolve their issues, she won't be hearing from her all night.

Next up was Mira, being the oldest female operator in Hereford, and she does give pretty solid advice on the occasions that Zofia approached her instead of Ying, but she knew that on Friday nights like these, she was drinking as if she were still in her twenties so she won't be hearing from her until tomorrow afternoon, when her hang over is bearable.

There was also Twitch, who was on the more mature side of Hereford's occupants so she can give reliable advice but not only were they not that close, she and Ela butted heads often so she wasn't an option either.

Zofia sighed, and was just about to give up and just go to sleep when she heard the door to the common room open as Ela walked in, mumbling profanities about Twitch. The door to her room slammed shut and Zofia heard her groan loudly into her pillow, making Zofia wonder if her sister was actually a little girl disguised as a thirty two year old.

Realizing that her sister was the best option she had, Zofia called out to her through the wall.

"What?" Ela whined at her.

"Come out, I need to talk to you."

With an even louder groan, Ela stepped out and sat across from Zofia on the table in the common room.

"What happened?" Zofia asked.

"That bitch didn't even let me get close to their quarters before shooing me away."

"We're talking about Pichon, right?"

"You think?" Ela said "Who else cockblocks me and Ju-"

"Don't bother trying to hide it Ela, you two are way too obvious."

"Are…are you mad?"

Zofia sighed. "No. In fact, that's why I wanted to talk to you."

"What do you mean?"

"He…" this was harder than she though it would be "He loves you, right?"

Ela gave her a small chuckle. "I sure hope so."

"I'm serious Ela."

"Alright, fine. Yes, he does."

"And you love him?" Zofia asked, to which Ela nodded. "Then that means you would do anything to be together, right?"

"Yeah, sure. Why are you asking me this?"

Zofia realized she couldn't do this after all. "Its…its nothing."

She got up to leave when Ela spoke up, making her stop just short of her room.

"You weren't lying a while ago, were you?" she asked "When I asked you at lunch and you said you fell in love with Sebastien. Is that why things are awkward between you two?"

Zofia couldn't bring herself to look at her sister. "So I'm that obvious?"

"Well its not like you to talk about love. At least not in that context."

"What should I do Ela?"

Ela sighed, knowing she'd most likely regret what she was about to say. "I'm not saying you should cheat, but you can't control who you fall in love with." Ela said "The only thing you can control is what you do about it."

"I want to be with him."

"Then that's what you're going to do. You're an adult Zofia, so I can't stop you." Ela said "Although as someone's girlfriend, I don't condone cheating, but as your sister, I'll be cheering you on."

Zofia smiled, but then she remembered something that took that smile away faster than it appeared. "But its too late isn't it?"

Ela sighed. "So you heard Yumiko."

"Did he say if he was going to do it?"

Ela didn't answer her, but it was already written on her face. Zofia's shoulders slumped. Why did she get her hopes up anyway?

…

With everything that happened between him and Zofia, plus the fact that neither of them were willing to resolve things, Buck knew he had to take his mind off of everything, even if its just for a while. The problem was that Harry had caught him drunk one too many times and his patience can only tolerate so much so he needed a different way to forget his troubles.

Which was why he found himself making out with Hibana.

"So birthday boy, what do you want to do tonight?" Hibana whispered I his ear "I'm up for anything you can think of."

That was an offer Buck didn't get everyday, though for some reason, he wasn't into it tonight. As if there was something clawing at the back of his mind that prevented him from enjoying the woman who was sticking her tongue down his throat.

Oh right, there was. "I don't know. You be in charge."

"Being submissive tonight are we? Ok then, let me take good care of you."

As Hibana did her thing, Buck's mind wandered everywhere, which when you look at it is the opposite of what should be going through his mind since he would usually forget everything else existed when the two of them were going at it.

But that wasn't the case for tonight.

Even as Hibana was undressing him, as her already bare breasts pressed against him, he felt nothing. Well, that wasn't completely true, since he definitely felt _something_ down there, but everything else was completely indifferent. Bored, even.

He felt Hibana grab his intimate parts and he finally pushed her off. "Yumiko, I'm sorry, I can't do this."

Hibana looked reasonably confused. "Why?" she asked "Can you not get it up?"

"I'm so hard right now that it hurts, alright? That's not the problem."

"Then what is it?"

Buck felt way more guilty than he expected to be and now he can't even form any words, but it didn't matter since Hibana was able to read his mind.

"You'd rather be doing it with someone else, don't you?"

Buck nodded. "I just needed something to distract me and you offered so…I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize Seb, I've done the whole 'sex as a distraction' thing way too many times that its only fair for me to be on the receiving end at least once."

"Thanks, Yumiko."

"So what's the problem? Why aren't you with her right now?"

It was Buck's turn to look confused now, to which Hibana rolled her eyes at. "What? We may just be friends with benefits but that means we're still friends. You can talk to me."

"Its just, things between us are awkward now." Buck thought about saying the whole married part, but then again, if he did, he might as well have just dropped Zofia's name.

"So?" Hibana asked "Who cares if things are awkward? If you really like her then that shouldn't be a problem."

"But-"

"No buts. Remember when we first hooked up? The next day was awkward as fuck and yet we did it again that night. And we kept doing it." Hibana said "Though, I have a feeling we won't be doing it anymore."

Buck grabbed Hibana and gave her a kiss. "One last kiss goodbye then." He said "Sorry for blue balling you."

Hibana shrugged. "I'll manage." She said as she began to put her clothes back on "You know anyone who's spending their night alone?"

"Emmanuelle usually does if you're into that."

"Not really." Hibana said "Though I've always wanted to see if yuri is as good as people say it is."

Buck chuckled. "Fucking weeb."

"Why are you still talking to me when you can be talking to her?"

That was simple. He was scared.

This was evident in the shaky knocks that he was disturbing the GROM quarters with. Ela answered the door, which took him by surprise, knowing what she was usually doing this time of night.

"What are you doing here Sebastien."

"Is your sister there?"

Ela crossed her arms. "Yes. Why?"

Buck realized he hadn't thought of what to say yet. And this was just Ela, what if he were face to face with Zofia? Nevertheless, he told himself he would push through with this no matter what.

"I have to talk to her."

"Come on Seb, are you even trying?"

Buck wasn't expecting that as an answer. "What are you talking about?"

"Zofia told me everything. I know why you're here, I just wanted to see what lame excuse you'll come up with."

"Uh…"

"Zofia's inside. Should I give you two some privacy?"

Buck nervously nodded. "Yes please."

He gave Ela his room key and she wished him good luck before leaving. He stepped inside, unsure of how he would call out to Zofia, though as he would figure out from seeing her sitting on the couch waiting for him, it wasn't necessary.

Zofia spoke first, sparing him the trouble. "What are you doing here?" she asked, though behind the snappy attitude was a woman that might as well be jumping for joy.

"If this is about Yumiko, we…we didn't fuck."

"I don't see how that's any of my business." Zofia said, carefully trying not to let how she felt show on her face.

"Well it is, since you were the reason."

"Now you really lost me Sebastien."

"I…I couldn't do it, alright. I couldn't sleep with her."

Zofia crossed her arms. "And why is that?"

"She wasn't you."

_Yes! Fuck yes! _"Do you expect me to forgive you just like that?"

Buck's spirits died down. "I guess I did. Its only fair after I rejected you." He said "Sorry for disturbing you."

He turned to leave when he felt Zofia grab his arm. He turned around to see her smiling from ear to ear. "Don't give up that easily dumbass."

Buck soon began to mirror her smile with one of his own. "So you're saying you-"

"I'm saying its only eleven pm so its still your birthday. Let me give you my present."

Zofia kissed him, and unlike in their first one, Buck kissed back, matching her intensity and taking it one step further and sticking his tongue in her mouth. They sloppily made out, neither of them bothering to be gentle since they've both been waiting for this for too long.

They also didn't bother walking to the perfectly good bedroom just a few steps away and began undressing each other in the middle of the common room. Buck couldn't remember if he locked the door or not and frankly, he didn't care. All he cared about right now was the woman in front of him, who just finished getting his underwear off and now began to jerk him off when he stopped her.

"Uh-uh." He told her "You first."

He basically ripped her underwear off before lifting her up and sitting her on the counter. He gently caressed her face and she held his hand as he did, guiding it to her mouth where she began to suck on his thumb. Buck kissed at her neck before slowly making his way down, taking on of her breasts in his mouth while he played with the other using his hand.

He heard Zofia's breath hitch and he went even lower, licking on the outside of her wet slit. He parted her entrance as he stuck his tongue in, using the moan that escaped Zofia's mouth as motivation to work harder. At first, he explored her, seeing which areas Zofia enjoyed the most.

Zofia's grip on his now unruly hair tightened as she pushed his head closer to her, and as a response he began to flick at her clit. Her moans grew louder, and both of them knew what that meant. Buck showed no intention of slowing down and as much as Zofia had wanted to buck her legs while screaming his name, she didn't want to do it just yet.

With all the willpower she could muster, she stopped him just as she was about to reach the edge.

"What's wrong?"

"Stop using your tongue."

Buck knew exactly what she meant and he was more than happy to oblige. "Are you on the pill."

"I had an operation after Sofie was born. I can't get pregnant anymore."

"Wow, uh ok. Way to kill the mood."

"Just fuck me already."

Buck got up and kissed Zofia as he stroked himself a few times before entering her, slowly inching his way inside until the base of his shaft was pressed against Zofia. She couldn't help but moan at the feeling of him fully inside of her. With how close she not too long ago, she knew she wouldn't last much longer, and Buck did too, so he took his time with her, taking things slowly so they would both enjoy every second of it.

Once he was comfortable with how she felt around him, he picked up the pace, managing to hit all the right places with each thrust. Biting down on her lip, Zofia managed to keep herself quiet, but this didn't fly with Buck. He wanted to hear just how much she enjoyed this, no matter if everyone in Hereford heard them. He grabbed her leg and pressed it against her stomach before pounding into her hard and fast. Thankfully, he held her in place otherwise she'd fall off the counter.

Without warning, Zofia bit into his shoulder, though it made no difference, since her loud moan could still be heard through the walls of their room. Buck stopped and held her close, feeling her fast heartbeat slowly go back to normal. As shee took deep breaths, Buck waited until she looked like she could talk again before giving her another kiss.

"You ok?"

Zofia weakly nodded. "Yeah."

"Good. Can I have mine now?"

Zofia pushed him out of her and got off the counter. "Not inside me."

"I thought you can't get pregnant."

"I can't." Zofia said "You can creampie me tomorrow. For now, I want to know how you taste."

Zofia got on her knees and this time made Buck lean on the counter. She gave his still hard cock a kiss on the tip before taking him in her mouth, taking him all the way to the base. She stayed liked that for a bit before making her way back up and taking him out of her mouth with an audible pop. She smiled at him and he smiled back, though not as smug as he was before. He wasn't that far off, and Zofia was determined to milk everything out of him.

He lovingly ran a hand through her hair and she continued, stroking him with one hand while she cupped his balls with the other all while her mouth played with the head of his cock. Zofia drove him up the wall with the way she worked him, and as she felt him throb in her hand, she stroked him faster, waiting until he was just about to go over the edge to call his name.

"Hey." She said, looking him in the eyes as he gave the tip another kiss "I love you Sebastien."

Hearing that was too much for Buck, and with a grunt, he came in her mouth, filling it with so much of his seed that it began to drip out the side of Zofia's mouth. Still, she swallowed it like it was nothing, and she opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue. She just wanted to show him that there nothing left, which is why she was surprised when Buck kissed her, and even sticking his tongue in her mouth. When he pulled away, she asked him why he did that.

"That was the most I've ever cum and you swallowed it. The least I can do is kiss you."

Zofia couldn't help but smile. Even now that bastard still acted like a gentleman. "You want to stay the night?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

Leaving their clothes on the floor, Buck and Zofia walked to her bedroom. It was a bit cramped since the bed was supposed to be for just one person, but neither of them were bothered by it. In fact, it was better since it gave them an excuse to hold each other even closer.

"I meant what I said you know?" Zofia said "I didn't tell you I loved you just to make you cum."

"I know." Buck said, making Zofia pout. He chuckled. "You were waiting for me to say it back, weren't you?"

Zofia just kept pouting. Rolling his eyes, Buck gave her a long passionate kiss.

"I love you too, Zofia."


	11. Chapter 11

Zofia and Buck stared at the ceiling, both of them panting as they laid on the sweat soaked bed.

"Jesus Sebastien, when I said you can creampie me tomorrow I didn't mean the minute we woke up."

"You weren't complaining just a minute ago."

"And whose fault was that?" Zofia asked as she snuggled closer.

Buck placed a kiss on her forehead. "I want to stay in this bed all day." He said before awkwardly shuffling away from Zofia. "But I can't. I don't want to be the guy who leaves after sex but as we both know, I'm not supposed to be here."

"I'll let you go only if you promise to come back."

Buck chuckled. "You're starting to sound cliché, Zo."

"Love changes a person."

Buck stepped out of the room to get dressed with the clothes they left on the floor last night, only to find his lover's sister sitting on the couch, even more surprised than he was. Their sudden shouts grabbed Zofia's attention and she stepped out as well, so now all three of them were screaming.

Now fully dressed, Zofia and Buck sat on the couch, expressions that of a child being scolded. But then again, Ela was chewing them out right now so maybe they were justified.

"You two need to be more careful, what if somebody else saw you?" Ela said "If anyone finds out about this, you're dead Zofia. You could lose your job and your family. And Sebastien, you'll be branded as some home wrecker. I doubt either of you would want that."

"We know, alright? We're sorry."

"Don't be sorry, be careful." Ela said.

The way Zofia and Buck looked at her scolding nearly made Ela feel bad for being angry. She sighed and decided to make them feel better, even though they were the ones at fault here.

"Its ok, just don't let it happen again." God, she was starting to sound like Zofia. "By the way, Harry called for you earlier."

"Me?"

"Both of you, actually. He wanted to talk about that joint operation with Meredith."

"And that's all he said he wanted to talk about?" Buck asked.

"Relax, I don't think he'll find out that quickly." Ela said "But he will of you keep looking so nervous."

The two of them nodded and left the room, headed straight to Harry's office and ready to deny anything that's even close to what they did the night before.

With a knock, they entered and sat down in front of Harry's table, both of them trying to find a way to sit that won't make them look the least bit suspicious.

"You called for us?"

"That's why you're here, aren't you?" Harry asked "Before anything else, how was the operation? Any problems that can hinder how you would perform?"

"What problems are you talking about exactly?"

"That's what I'm asking you." Harry said "Like, the three of you got along right? No conflict or anything that could affect you in the field."

"Relax Harry, Sebastien and Meredith hit it off. We'll be fine."

"That's good to hear since you'll be working together for a while."

"That won't be a problem." Buck said, before nudging at Zofia with his elbow "Guess we'll have to put that whole married act on again."

"You haven't told her yet?"

Zofia shrugged. "We kinda got into character a bit too much over there and she actually thinks we're happily married. I don't want to burst her bubble like that."

"Well, that's on you then." Harry said "She'll arrive sometime today and you'll start tracking the other white mask hideouts tomorrow."

"If that's all, we'd like to go to breakfast already."

"Yeah, yeah. Go on."

Buck and Zofia walked out of Harry's office and before the door was even fully closed, Buck grabbed Zofia by surprise, making her yelp more loudly than what was safe.

"I didn't realize Meredith was as interested in our marriage as Marcia was."

"She was, she was just better at hiding it."

"Then let's get back into character."

Buck leaned in for a kiss, and as much as Zofia wanted to, she pushed Buck away. "Not here Sebastien."

"Aww, why not?"

"Those puppy dog eyes won't work on me, Seb." That was a lie "You know why we can't do that kind of stuff out in the open."

Buck wasn't deterred. "Come on, Zo. Just a quick peck."

"I want to, Sebastien, but we can't."

Buck groaned. "Fine. Then I guess we can't sit together for breakfast either."

Great. The more Buck listed things that Zofia wants to do with him, the sadder she got since she knew they can't do it. Although, breakfast together won't hurt. Hopefully.

"Maybe eating together won't be that bad. I mean, its just breakfast, right?"

Buck stared at her. "You serious?" he asked "Alright! Let's go."

They began to walk and Buck put his arm around her. "Sebastien-"

"Don't worry, I do this to everyone. Its fine."

Zofia sighed and grabbed Buck by the waist so she can pull him closer.

…

Zofia hadn't even been able to sit down on her desk when Meredith wrapped her in a tight hug.

"You're finally back!"

"Get off me Meredith."

"But I missed you."

"I was gone for two weeks Mere." Zofia said "I've been on longer operations than that."

"Well back then, you weren't a mother yet."

Oh right. She had a daughter now. "Yeah, I guess I am."

"So? How is it like to be a mother?" Meredith asked "Surely you can tell me that after you've hidden your relationship until the very last second."

Technically she didn't, since they got married a few days after they met, but she wasn't telling her that. "I wasn't sure fraternization was allowed and I didn't want to risk it."

"So you were willing to risk everything for love?" Meredith asked, a tad bit too giddy "Alright, that's enough for me to forgive you for not telling me about him."

"I didn't realize I was in trouble."

"You will be if you won't start talking." Meredith said, leaning against the table and closer to Zofia. "How's your husband like. Actually, no. Tell me his name first."

"Meredith, for both mine and his sake, we decided to keep our relationship to only the two of us."

Meredith pouted. "But why?"

"Mainly because if anyone finds out who our partner is, then it can be used as leverage. Also, we were only allowed to marry if we keep quiet about it since my father and our boss are close and he just asked him a huge favor."

Meredith sighed. "You guys are lucky. Even with all that blocking your way, you still managed to find a way to be together. I wish I'd get that chance one day."

"Trust me Meredith, its not as perfect as you think it is." Zofia said "Don't get me wrong though, I love my family, but there will be ups and downs, and there will be more downs than you'll expect."

In Zofia's case though, there were definitely way more downs.

…

"You got something on your face."

"Really? Where?"

"Here, let me." Buck said, wiping the food on Zofia's cheek and licking it off his finger.

Zofia stared at him at shock, and Buck rolled his eyes. "Come on Zo, really? With how paranoid you are of people finding out, we look even more obvious."

"You think so? Maybe sitting together was a bad idea after all."

Buck grabbed Zofia's hand. "Zofia, relax or I swear to god I'll jump over this table fuck you on the floor. Then everyone will really know about us."

"Sebastien, don't joke about that." Zofia whispered.

"Who said I was joking?"

"Ok, I'm leaving."

Zofia stood up and turned around where she got wrapped in a hug. "Hello. Miss me?"

"It hasn't even been a week yet Meredith."

"Well I still missed you." Meredith said before letting go of Zofia and pointing at Buck. "I missed you too you bastard. Come here."

Zofia watched as the two of them hugged, embarrassed by the fact that she now felt a hint of jealousy. "Looks like Marcia and Sebastien are rubbing off on you, Meredith. Since when were you the touchy type?"

"Shut up Zofia, you just want him all to yourself."

"Am I wrong to?" Zofia asked "He's my husband after all."

"Relax Zofia, I'm joking." Meredith said "Come on, Harry told me to come get you so he can brief us all at once."

The three of them left together, and upon entering Harry's office, they saw a woman sitting across from him, whom looked liked they were just finishing their conversation with Harry. Well, conversation was a little generous since she mostly just listened and nodded along. She also kept her hood up the whole time and kept her head down, almost as if she didn't want to be seen.

"That's all for now. Here, take this. Your quarters are by the east wing." Harry said, handing the woman a room key "Don't be late tomorrow."

The woman nodded once more before getting up to leave. She paid Zofia, Buck and Meredith no attention as she did, making her way past them as if they weren't there at all.

"Who was that?" Buck asked.

"You'll know soon enough, for now, take a seat." Harry said "The information Michal gave up was…detailed to say the least. In fact, I had a hard time choosing which hideout we should hit first, but the arrival of that woman just now made me choose this one in particular."

Harry slid them a file containing a picture of what looked like a huge corporate building. "This is what you'll be taking down tomorrow."

"A telecoms building?"

Harry shook his head. "Although that is a telecoms building to some extent, its just a front. Its main purpose is so that the white masks have their own secure line for any and all communication among their hideouts."

"So if we take that out first, the white masks won't be able to warn the other hideouts in time."

"Exactly."

"If that were true, then I doubt they would leave that building unguarded." Buck said.

"They don't have a choice. A telecom building shouldn't have any more security than what was considered the normal amount, otherwise it'd be suspicious." Harry said "So instead, they invested in surveillance. Every nook and cranny of that building is monitored at all times. That is where that woman a while ago comes in."

Zofia was visibly confused. "Explain please."

"You see, she can hide from cameras. And I mean that in the literal sense." Harry said "She has this gadget that makes her virtually invisible to any recording device. Its also worth mentioning that she's quiet."

"Ok then, how will we be using that to our advantage?"

"Simple." Harry said, pushing his glasses closer to his eyes "You three will pose as a service maintenance crew and scout out the area. Look for the fastest way to get into the server then create a distraction so she can get in and shut it down. Then you clear the place out from the inside out."

"You seem to be putting a lot of faith into her, Harry."

"You will too when you meet her in person." Harry said "If I were you, I'd go meet with her before tomorrow. She's on the east wing."

The three of them were out the door when Harry called out to them. "She goes by Nokk by the way."

Zofia, Buck and Meredith reached what seemed to be Nokk's room. "Go ahead." Buck said "Knock."

"If you did that on purpose…"

Buck shrugged. "Well, dad jokes come with being a dad."

Zofia hearing Buck claim to be a father threw her off for some reason, and she wasn't able to knock long enough for Twitch to come out of the neighboring quarters.

"She's not there."

"You know where she is Em?"

"No, but she did go out." Twitch said "Why? You already looking to befriend her?"

"Not at first but now that you mention it, yes."

"Good luck with that."

"Not the usual snark from you Em. Someone's in a good mood today."

"Just a good night's sleep is all."

Buck gave sneered at her. "I doubt you got any sleep at all."

Twitch turned red. "Shut up."

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks." Buck said, waving off to Twitch "Come on, lets go look for her."

As the three of them roamed around, Zofia lagged behind a bit, not bothering to listen in on Buck and Meredith's conversation. She was too preoccupied with something else.

_Why are you like this?_ She furiously asked herself. First it was with Meredith, now with Pichon? She knew full well that Buck was friendly with nearly everyone on the base so why was she still jealous. In fact, at this point, it wasn't jealousy anymore, it was possessiveness, which was not a good look no matter how she put it. She was such a terrible-

"Hey." Buck whispered as he put his arm around her. "Don't worry about Emmanuelle. She's gay."

He gave her a quick peck on the cheek before going back to continue his conversation with Meredith, all while Zofia held her cheek, face turning scarlet. She saw Buck laugh at something Meredith said and she thought to herself.

Goddammit, she loved this man.

Meredith groaned. "We'll never find her."

"Yeah, I'm lazy too. Let's just wait until tomorrow." Buck said "That ok with you?"

Being put on the spot caught Zofia off guard. "Uh, yeah. Let's just do it tomorrow." As much as she wanted to know who she would be working with ahead of time, there was something else she'd rather be doing right now.

…

Zofia let the water from the shower run down her body. It was colder than what she was used to, but it didn't matter since the man with her was making her feel hot all over. With her being pinned face first against the wall and hands held firmly in place, all she could do was moan his name, although the hand choking her reduced them into whimpers.

In all her sexcapades over the years, she'd never once given up all control in fear of the men taking it too far, but Buck was different. She trusted that he would take care of her, and so far he delivered. He was going at it like a man possessed, pounding into her so aggressively that it hurt, but goddammit did it hurt so good.

Her orgasm came sooner than she expected it too, and she failed to silence herself as a result. Buck kept going, groaning into her ear as he finally decided to let himself go. With both of them still shaking, he slowly pulled out, watching his seed drip out of Zofia. They cleaned each other up quickly and Buck left the shower while Zofia stayed behind, waiting for a bit so that they won't be too suspicious.

When she finally stepped out, the woman they had been looking for finally decided to show her face. "Your husband won't like that."

"What?"

"You and Cotè." Nokk said. "He won't like that."

Zofia stepped closer to Nokk, fists clenched. "You were listening?"

"I just got here, but you two were pretty obvious."

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was any of your business." Zofia snarled "Who the fuck are you and why do you care?"

"To answer your first question, you don't need to know. And for the next, I don't care if you cheat on your husband, I just want to let you know that I know about it."

"What do you hope to gain from doing that?"

"My recruitment here wasn't like yours. Harry knew nothing about me apart from what I can do. If my identity was ever made public, it will fuck up my and my father's life. Harry only found out who I was just recently and he is one of the very few people who know about me. I've been studying all of you ever since I've been here, picking up whatever dirt I can use against you in case any of you ever found out."

"So you want something to blackmail us with in case we ever decide blackmail you?"

"I know it might seem childish and I don't care. It gives my reassurance, which brings comfort. You have a secret to keep too, don't you? You should know how much it sucks to be paranoid all the time. If what I said earlier rubbed you the wrong way then I'm sorry, but just know that should you ever give me a reason to, I will ruin your reputation and relationship with your family."

Zofia glared at her, which would have been more menacing if she weren't standing buck naked and dripping wet in front of her. "Ok then, now let me make a threat of my own. If you tell anyone about us, you won't have to worry about your little secret getting out anymore because you won't be alive to see what happens. Do you understand?"

Nokk nodded. "Loud and clear."

"Good. Then I guess we have an agreement." Zofia said "Welcome to Team Rainbow."

Nokk raised her eyebrow. "That was a sudden change of tone."

"Looks like Sebastien's rubbing off on me too." Zofia said, on her way to get dressed. "Don't be late tomorrow."

"Don't worry, I'll be there." Nokk said.

"You better be."

Zofia watched as Nokk walked away. Truth be told, she didn't give two shits about what her identity was or whatever it was she said. As long as she keeps her mouth shut, they'll get along just fine.


	12. Chapter 12

"You know," Meredith said "I was excited about this operation at first but now, I'm not so sure."

Buck squeezed the dirty toilet water off his sponge. "Why not?"

"Maybe because we're cleaning toilets?"

"This was the fastest way we can get around, Mere." Zofia said "There are bathrooms all over the building. If we clean them first we can search for the server room quicker."

"But do we have to clean toilets though?"

"We're supposed to be service maintenance, so yes." Buck said "I don't know what you're complaining about since you're not doing anything."

"But watching you is boring."

"Relax, once we're done here we'll be cleaning at the top floors, where the servers will most likely be."

"Good. I want to stop cleaning and start arresting people already."

"Again Mere, you're not cleaning." Buck said "If you would help, we'd finish quicker."

"Just say you're finished cleaning. I doubt they'd care."

"They will Meredith, that's why we're doing this properly." Zofia said, furiously scrubbing the floor with her brush.

"Always the perfectionist, aren't we Zo?"

"I'm not a perfectionist Meredith, you're standards are just so low that doing what's expected of you looks like working extra."

"Ok, you got me. Pass me a mop."

"Don't bother, we're done here anyway." Buck said.

"Aww, that's too bad."

"Don't worry." Zofia said, handing her cleaning supplies to Meredith. "You can clean the next all by yourself."

The three of them moved up a floor when a guard stopped them, demanding to know why they were there.

"Service maintenance." Zofia said "We're here to clean the toilets."

"This area is off limits. If you're done with all the bathrooms, go and check if all the air conditioners are working, its getting hot in here."

As much as all of them wanted to, they didn't insist anymore. "You know what this means, right?"

"I don't have to clean?"

"Ye-, no. That means the servers are there."

"Just because he won't let us in?"

"This is a telecommunication building Meredith, what else would they need to hide?"

"Fair point." Meredith said "Go on, call her already."

Zofia waited until they were far enough not to be heard before pulling out her phone. "Hey Nokk, we found it. Where are you?"

"Already inside the building." Nokk responded "Where am I headed?"

"Top floor, next to the elevator. There's a guard there so be careful."

"I'll handle it."

"I don't feel good about that tone." Zofia said "In case you're forgetting, we're doing with this with the least amount of casualties possible. Use your tranquilizer first. Start shooting when you really don't have a choice."

"I know, I know. I'll radio you if I need help, for now go back to the van."

Zofia told the others and they packed up and made their way back down. On the way back, they spotted Nokk on the floor below them, her dark hair and even darker lipstick making her stand out in the seemingly non goth environment.

"She looks like someone who never left her emo phase." Meredith said, earning her a chuckle from both her companions.

"She pulls it off pretty well though, not gonna lie." Buck said.

"She looks pretty young too. How old was she again?"

Buck shrugged. "Beats me. We don't even know her real name, much less her age."

"So, twenties?" Meredith asked.

"Too young. She looks close to Tina's age so maybe early thirties."

"You never know though. Some women in their forties still look pretty young."

"Hey assholes, I can hear you through the comms." Nokk said, voice through grit teeth as she seemed to be strangling a guard. "You're lucky my hands are tied right now."

"Sorry."

Buck, Meredith and Zofia reached the van where they began to switch to their tactical gear and getting ready to head back in once Nokk had disabled the servers. When it was only Meredith changing inside the van, Buck approached Zofia, who was staring off into the distance while impatiently tapping her foot, and hugged her from behind.

"What?" Zofia asked, her irritated voice confirming Buck's suspicions.

"You didn't like me talking about other women, didn't you?"

Zofia pouted, trying to think of a way out but Buck resting his head on her shoulder and purring made it damn near impossible.

"No. And I know its petty but I can't help it."

"Are you scared I'll cheat?" Buck amusingly asked "Because that would be rich coming from you."

"I don't know why I'm like this alright? I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Its kind of cute."

"It won't be when I get jealous when you talk to anyone that's female."

"Maybe. But I'm sure by now you would have learned to trust me." Buck said "In case you're forgetting, let me remind you that the only person I love is you."

Zofia clenched her jaw. "Say…say it again."

"Zofia Bosak." Buck said, turning her around so that they were face to face. "I. Love. You."

Buck pulled her in for a kiss, and a long one at that. In fact, if Meredith hadn't cleared her throat, they wouldn't have stopped any time soon.

"Hate to burst your bubbles, but we have somewhere to be."

"You sure they won't see us from where we're coming in from?"

"We scouted the place remember?" Meredith asked "It's a back door in every sense of the word. No cameras, no guards, nothing. Shitty layout if you ask me."

"Just be glad they overlooked it." Buck said "Where does it lead us?"

"Second floor at most. We can make our way up through all the commotion when Nokk blows the servers."

Zofia and Buck nodded and they went on, heading to the back door that really didn't have any surveillance and security.

"If they left it unlocked too, I wouldn't be surprised."

Meredith tried the door knob and it didn't open. "Looks like they still care about security."

"Barely. Step aside." Buck said, skeleton key at the ready.

"Calm down Seb, there might not be any surveillance but they'll still here a shotgun going off." Meredoth said "I'll take care if this, just watch my back."

Meredith made quick work of the lock and soon, the three of them were inside. With one quick sweep with a drone, Zofia confirmed that they were on tge second floor. Now all they had to do was wait for Nokk's signal.

"Suppressors on your pistols guys." Meredith said "Don't use your rifles until everyone already knows we're here."

"Nokk, nokk. You there?" Buck asked on the comms, ignoring the looks Zofia and Meredith gave him "How are things on your end."

"Just about done." Nokk answered "Headed down now. Move out once I blow it."

"Understood."

The three of them waited, and although they were all expecting it, the loud explosion still got them by surprise. It caught everyone else by surprise too, which was evident in the sudden uproar. The three of them burst through the door, guns up and ready to fire should the need arise.

"Everyone on the ground now!" Meredith yelled, rallying up anyone that wasn't a civilian.

As she ziptied them all up, Zofia and Buck moved up a floor to get everyone else, alongside Nokk. After a hectic twenty minutes, they had everyone gathered in the main lobby while Zofia radioed everything to Harry.

Too preoccupied with everything, none of them noticed the man emerge from the room behind the reception desk until he had already gotten a shot off. Meredith took the brunt of his shotgun's pellets to her chest, the impact causing her to fall down, taking Nokk down with her.

Buck raised his pistol only to have someone hit him before he could fire. He fell to the ground, his pistol kicked out of his reach by his attacker before hitting him again, knocking him out.

…

Buck woke up tied to a chair, his restraints showing no signs of budging wherever he tried them. He tried jumping, the chair creaking underneath him with each attempt.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. That chair breaks and you have wood shoved up your ass."

"Meredith?" Buck asked. "You're still alive?"

"Clearly. My chest is pretty sore though."

"Where are you?" Buck asked, expecting to see her tied up as well somewhere in the darkly lit room, which was why he was surprised when she just walked in front of him.

"Thank god." He said "Untie me so we can get out if here."

Meredith just stared at him.

"Come on, what are you waiting for?"

"You still don't get it, do you?" Meredith asked "You're not supposed to get out."

"What the fuck are you going on about? Get me out of here."

Meredith grabbed her own chair at set it in front of Buck before sitting down on it. "I know sometimes the mind only sees what it wants to see, and since you clearly don't want to accept that I'm dirty, you're being denser than usual but come on, man. What other explanation can you have for this?"

"You better not be saying what I think you're saying Meredith."

"So now you get it." Meredith said "Come on Sebastien, did you really think I'd be able to walk past all those white masks back in Poland? How do you think they knew about the ambush waiting for Michal in the reception hall? I could go on and on but it would all mean the same thing anyway."

"So all that, when we met, it was all bullshit?"

"Far from it Sebastien." Meredith said "In the time we've spent together, I genuinely got to like you and I want you as a friend but in that time, I also got to know you. I know you're not the kind of person who'd be ok with this. It was too bad too, since I thought of bringing you and Zofia along."

Zofia. Everything else on Buck's mind was pushed aside when he heard her name. "Where's Zofia?"

"Aww, look at that. Still keeping the husband act up." Meredith mocked "Oh don't give me that look Seb, I know you two aren't married. I did at first, but the bug I placed in your side of the townhouse got everything. Again, its too bad since you two looked like you'd be happy together."

Meredith leaned forward, studying Buck's reaction. "Unless you two really are happy together." She said, a faint smile on her lips "I knew it. I knew there was something between you two. I don't condone adultery but hey, I'm no saint either so meh."

"You didn't answer my question Meredith." Buck said, his tone serious. Pissed even. "Where is she?"

"Relax, she and Nokk are still alive."

"Alive and unharmed are two different things Meredith."

"What I'm doing to you right now is the worst that can happen to them. They're safe so keep your attention here, in this room."

"Ok then, why are you doing this? Your dad was GROM wasn't he? How do you think he'd react to this?"

"_He_ is the reason I'm doing this Sebastien." Meredith said "Its because he was GROM that we're in this situation."

"What are you talking about."

"Did Zofia tell you my father was GROM?" Meredith asked, to which Buck nodded. "Then that means she also told you that he died in a car accident. Well that's not true. He and Zofia's father were sent on an operation once and they caught a high ranking official stealing the evidence that was supposed to be used to lock up someone we've been chasing for a while."

Buck could tell that Meredith was tense from just talking about this. All these years and she was still pissed. "They didn't confront him at first. They wanted to gather up enough evidence first so that when they did confront him, they'd have enough to take him away on the spot. They went to the highest official in GROM with the evidence and you know what he told them? He said to get rid of it. All that hard work down the drain just so GROM can save face."

Buck found himself interested. "What did they do?"

"They kept investigating anyway. They tried to take him down themselves, though I assume you're aware that he had a shit ton of connections, and not all of them were on the right side of the law. Zofia's father was barely alive when they were done with him, and my father and Zofia's mother rushed to the hospital to check on him they died on the way. The report said it was a car crash, but I managed to steal the autopsy results. They were both shot. Zofia's father made a full recovery only for him to take his life in guilt not long after."

Meredith stood up, knocking her chair over when she did. "The government doesn't give a shit about people like us Sebastien. Countless soldiers die every year and those that were lucky enough to get back home aren't even acknowledged when they have a breakdown from PTSD or when they need help getting into a wheelchair. Once they're done with us, we get swept aside and nothing ever really changes."

"And this is your solution to that?" Buck asked "Turning your back on them?"

"Say what you will Sebastien, but you know I'm right."

"Not all government agencies are like that Meredith."

"You think I don't know that?" Meredith asked "Team Rainbow in it of itself is already a good example but the sad truth is that agencies like yours are overshadowed by the corrupt ones."

"Then how does you becoming a terrorist change anything?"

"Think about it Sebastien." Meredith said "One small act can change so much. Terrorists set off a small IED and the government takes away a huge amount of budget from things like education or city maintenance and they put it in the military. That kind of influence is what brings change Sebastien."

"What change are you after Meredith?" Buck demanded "Don't tell me you agree with whatever it is they are preaching."

"I just want to get the government to get off their asses and realize what they're doing wrong. If becoming a terrorist is what it takes then so be it."

"Then you'd better make sure I'm not the one going after you."

"You know Seb, I'm sure you thought that would sound cool in your head, and it kinda did, just a little, but that kind of threat doesn't hold any weight since you're tied up in front of me." Meredith said.

Buck glared at her, making Meredith sigh. "Look Sebastien, I don't want to kill you and I have no intention of doing so if it were up to me, but you know how dangerous it is to leave loose ends."

There it was. He was expecting her to say it but it still hurt when she did. He didn't say anything though. That's what he would've done too if he were in her place.

"Come on man, say something." Meredith said "Don't make me feel worse than I already do."

"Do what you want to me, just don't hurt Zofia."

"Uh, yeah about that..."

The door to the room opened and Zofia walked in, though she wasn't handcuffed and being shoved in by guards like Buck was expecting. In fact, she even had a gun.

"Zofia?" he asked "You're in on this?"

Zofia didn't answer. In fact, she didn't even look him in the eyes when she shot him.


	13. Chapter 13

"Do you think you convinced her?"

"Hopefully. She didn't say anything when I left. If she wasn't fooled, she's doing a good job of hiding it."

Zofia found it hard to look Harry in the eye, knowing what she was about to say next. "Is…is Sebastien ok?"

Harry raised an eyebrow at her. "Nokk got him back safely. He's fine." Harry said "No thanks to you though."

"I'm sorry but Meredith put me on the spot. If I hadn't shot him, she would've found out."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to, Zofia." Harry said.

Zofia sighed. The weight of what she did was already crushing her and Harry just had to hit her with that. "I know."

"You're a good shot though, I'll give you that." Harry said "You hit him exactly where you'd miss anything important but still made him bleed enough to look like he'd die."

"That doesn't change the fact that I shot him." Zofia murmured. "Can I see him?"

"He's recovering in the infirmary right now, but I'd advise against it."

"Sebastien knows I won't do something like that. He'd hear me out."

"I wasn't referring to him."

As usual, Harry was right. The second she stepped inside Buck's room, Frost was already trying to kick her out.

"You have some nerve to show your face you bitch." She snarled.

"I just want to check on him."

Frost scoffed. "That's rich considering you're the one who put him here."

"I'm also the one who made sure he didn't bleed out on the floor."

"He shouldn't have been bleeding at all but you just had to go and fucking shoot him."

Zofia's blood began to boil. "That's why I'm here to clear things up! Stop acting like you speak for him because you don't."

"Well neither do you!"

"ENOUGH!" Buck yelled "Stop talking about me like I'm not in the fucking room. Tina, let her in and give us some privacy."

"Are you serious?"

"Zofia wouldn't shoot me if she had a choice. Let me hear what she has to say first, then you can kick her out."

Frost wanted to argue but she knew that if it came from Buck himself, she had no choice. With a glare to Zofia, she left the room. Zofia felt a strong urge to stick her tongue at Frost when she did, but she didn't want the man she loved thinking she was six years old.

"Thank-"

"I didn't do it for you." Buck cut her off "Don't get me wrong Zofia, I'm as pissed at you as she was. I just want peace of mind as to why you shot me."

"Meredith's dirty."

"Yeah, no shit." Buck said "I thought you were too if Nokk hadn't told me that you were the one who let her escape while she was carrying me back to the car."

"Well I'm not. But I found out about Meredith when we were still in Poland. I told Harry about it and he told me to hold off on making a move since we didn't know just how many they were. He said to wait until we were back at Hereford so we can take her down on that raid in the telecoms building."

"And you didn't think of letting me in on that plan?"

"I wanted to but Harry told me to keep it to myself. Meredith might get suspicious if she saw all of us feeling tense around her."

"Just tell me she bought it." Buck said "I don't want to have been shot for nothing."

"Looks like she did."

Neither of them said anything for a solid second and the air around them was so tense that it was hard to breathe.

"Are you waiting for me to leave?"

"Oh you noticed?"

Zofia's heart sank to her stomach as she turned to leave.

"Hey Zo." Buck called out just as she was about to open the door. She turned around and he smiled at her. "Don't give up that easily dumbass."

Zofia mirrored his smile and she walked to the side of his bed and gave him a kiss. She felt him place his hand on the back of her head, ruffling her hair before pulling her even closer. This made it hard for them to push each other off when Ela entered the room out of nowhere.

"Oh, am I interrupting something?" she asked.

"Just me apologizing. You need something?"

"Well I wanted to see if Sebastien was ok and if you two had made up, and I guess I did." Ela said "Oh, and your daughter and husband are with me."

Both Zofia's and Buck's hearts stopped. "What?"

"I'm kidding." Ela chuckled. "God, you should have seen your faces. But they will arrive sometime today though. Harry wanted to be sure no one would go after them in case you get made. Think of it as insurance."

Zofia groaned in frustration. "What the hell was he thinking, why would he do that?"

"Well, for one he wanted them to be safe." Ela said "Why are you mad at him, its not like he did it because he wanted you to get caught sleeping with someone behind your husband's back."

Zofia cringed. "Oh god, don't put it that way please. It makes me sound like a cheater."

"You are a cheater."

"I don't want to be reminded of it!" Zofia said "Can we not talk about it please?"

"Yeah, we probably shouldn't. Someone else is here to see you."

Before Buck could ask who it was, Rook nearly barged into the room and pushed both sisters aside.

"What the hell Seb?" he asked "Don't go getting yourself shot like that."

"I didn't have your plates Julien. I wouldn't be here if I did."

"Damn straight. If I get my hands on whoever shot you, I'm putting my foot up their ass."

Buck glanced at Zofia. "Oh, something's going up their ass alright. That's the only way I see us getting even."

He watched her turn scarlet and look away, and he chuckled. After telling him to get well soon, Rook and Ela left, leaving just him and Zofia again.

"Did…did you really mean that?" Zofia awkwardly asked.

Buck raised an eyebrow at her. "Did you want me to?" he asked "I won't force you into anything you don't want to do."

"Well, I did shoot you so if you really want to, I can probably-"

"I'm gonna stop you right there Zo. If you're agreeing because you feel like you owe me sonething, you're only making me feel worse. Pity sex is the worst sex."

"But I want to make it up to you." Zofia whined.

"Fine, how about this." Buck said "When I get out of here, which should be sometime today, we go to your room, lock the door, take all our clothes off, and just see where it goes from there."

Zofia smiled. "I'd like that."

She gave him another kiss before she went out as well, where apparently Frost was waiting for her.

"Hey! Don't think you're getting off the hook that easily."

Zofia paid her almost no attention as she kept walking. "He said we were good, so we're good."

"You know how he is." Frost said, catching up to her "He forgives people too easily. He gives people like you too many chances. Well I'm not like him. You do anything like that again and you'll be the one in the infirmary."

Zofia stopped walking and turned around. "Did you just threaten me Tina?" She said "I get it, you care about him. I do too, that's why I-"

"That's why you shot him?"

"There is more to this than you know Tina! You think I wanted to shoot him? If there was any other way, I would've taken it but there wasn't, and you making it look like I wanted to do it is fucking insulting." Zofia said, cornering Frost into the wall. "Now be a good girl and stop fibbing over things that aren't yours."

Frost stared at her in confusion. "What are you talking about? Are you implying that he's yours?"

"I'm saying he belongs to no one, so I don't need you telling me what's best for him."

"Fine. If you get him killed its going to be on your conscience anyway."

Frost stormed off, leaving Zofia with her heart threatening to beat its way out of her chest. That was way too close. If Frost hadn't been so pissed, she would have figured her out.

_You need to be more careful Zofia._ She told herself, and if either Buck or Ela wee there, they would've said the same thing.

She was just about to head to her room when Harry called for her. Expecting to be reprimanded for that little scuffle with Frost that he somehow found out about, she was surprised when her daughter ran up to her and gave her a hug.

"Mommy, I missed you."

Zofia tried to not let the shock show in her voice. "I missed you too Sofie. When did you get here?"

"Just now. Uncle Harry called us here."

Zofia gave Harry a questioning look. "Uncle?"

Harry shrugged. "I saw the opportunity. Anyway, Sofie and Jeremiah will stay here for the time being, within the safety of Hereford, and within arm's reach of her mother."

"Not that I don't appreciate the gesture Harry, but you didn't think of telling me beforehand?"

"You were still on an operation at the time. Plus its not like there's any reason for you not to want your family here, right?"

_There is a reason. He's sitting in the infirmary._

"Where will we be staying?" Jeremiah asked.

"We have some empty quarters, but if you want to stay with Zofia I can make some arrangements."

"Its ok, you don't have to do that. We're already intruding."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked "I don't think Ela even uses her room in the GROM quarters."

"Its fine." Jeremiah said, and although she was looking for an excuse for her family not to stay with her, Zofia was still a bit insulted that it came from Jeremiah.

"Ok then, you're choice." Harry said. "Can you two wait outside for a bit? I need a word with Zofia in private."

Jeremiah nodded. "Come on Sofie."

Harry waited until the door shut before saying anything. "How's Sebastien? Did you two talk?"

"He's fine. He said he should be out by tomorrow."

"And he's not mad at you?" Harry asked, to which Zofia shook her head at. "Good. Look, Meredith told you to lay low when you guys split a few days ago, right? Does she know you're here?"

"Yes, but it shouldn't be a problem."

"Ok. And she said she'd call you if you two needed to meet right?"

Again, Zofia nodded. "Just checking." Harry said "Anything she says to you goes to us, alright?"

"Yes Harry, I know."

"Good. Now stop talking to me and start spending time with your family."

Zofia left the room and took her husband and daughter to the mess hall, just in time for lunch. They took two steps in and Sofie got approached by several operators in awe of how cute she was.

"How old are you?" Mira asked.

"S-six."

After a round of awws, Ash asked her another question.

"What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see my mommy."

"Are you guys going to react like that to everything she says?" Zofia asked, annoyed "Come on, let us through."

"You're acquainted with Ela, right?" Zofia asked Jeremiah "I have to do something for an investigation and as much as I missed you two, I need to concentrate. Is it ok if I leave you two in her care?"

"Auntie Ela!" Sofie yelled as she ran to hug Ela.

Jeremiah looked at Zofia and smiled. "Look's like you have your answer."

"Whose adorable kid is that?" Zofia heard Rook ask when they approached the table.

"Ours." Ela said "Your pull out game sucks."

Zofia slapped her sister in the arm. "Ela!"

"Sorry. Don't worry Zo, your family will be safe with us."

Zofia thanked Ela and made her way to the office building part of Hereford. She was going through her files when someone hugged her from behind.

"Guess who got out early."

Zofia pushed Buck's arm off. "Get off Sebastien, we can't be seen like this. My family just arrived."

"Oh really?" Buck asked, seemingly unfazed by the news. "Can I meet Sofie?"

"You…uh, sure." Zofia said "But you know we have to act like there's nothing between us, right? That means nothing intimate."

"I know."

"No hugging, holding my hand, kissing me anywhere." Zofia said "And most of all, no sex."

Buck chuckled. "Why are you so worried about me screwing up? Worry about yourself."

"Hey, I'll have you know I have exceptional self control."

…

_Goddammit Zofia. _She scolded herself as she laid on her bed that night, being held close by a sleeping Buck in a tight, post-fuck embrace. The worst part was that after all that talk about self control, she was the one who called him over.

Hiding their relationship was going to be harder than she thought.


	14. Chapter 14

Frost found herself wide awake that night, Zofia's words pushed to the back of her mind but never really leaving it. She snarled at the thought of her.

_Who does she think she is? _Frost found herself asking. Normally, she wasn't like this. She never harbored any anger towards anyone outside of any disagreement, and if that were the case, she would've resolved it by now.

But for some reason, Zofia was different. Very few people ever get on the timid Canadian's bad side, but when they do, they stay there for a very long time. She racked her brain, thinking about how things were between them before she had gone and shot Buck.

The two rarely spoke to each other, but on the times that they did, they seemed to get along. So why was now any different? Sure she shot Buck, but the way she treated her was a bit too much. There was something she said that stood out though.

_Stop fibbing about things that aren't yours._

Just what did she mean by that? The excuse she gave Frost didn't sit with her right. If she just wanted to say not to act like she spoke for Buck, she could have said it some other way. She chose those words specifically, almost as if she was telling her to back down. If that were the case though, that would mean that there was something going on between the two of them, and the last time she checked, Zofia was married.

But then again, she was pissed at the time so maybe she was just hearing things. She rolled over and tried to sleep, as if this attempt would be any different from the multiple failed ones before it.

…

"Eww, this is yucky."

"Sofie, learn to eat what's on your plate." Jeremiah said "Look at Ela and Julien, they're almost finished with their food."

"That's because we've been desensitized to the taste by now."

"What does that mean?"

"Nevermind that Sofie." Jeremiah said "I have to go to the restroom, do you mind watching her for a bit?"

Ela and Rook nodded and Jeremiah got up. Rook asked El if she was going to finish her food, and with a roll if her eyes, she told him to open his mouth and she fed it to him. With this happening every morning, the two of them were used to it by now, which was why they didn't notice that Sofie was watching them all this time.

"Is Julien your boyfriend, Auntie Ela?"

They stared at her. If a little kid was able to notice it, then they were definitely being too obvious. "Uh, yeah."

"Aww, did you guys kiss yet?"

"You can say we do that." Ela said "Why do you ask?"

"Isn't that for people who are married?"

Despite Ela stepping on his foot under the table, Rook couldn't help himself. "Not exactly. What comes after kissing is what-"

"You finish that sentence and you're dead, Nizan."

"Zofia." Rook addressed her as if he wasn't just about to give the birds and the bees talk to her daughter a few years too early. "What brings you here?"

"My daughter." Zofia said "Hey Sofie, where's your father?"

"He went to the restroom. Who's he?" Sofie asked, pointing to Buck.

If her daughter hadn't pointed it out, Zofia wouldn't have remembered she had Buck's arm around her. They tried to play it cool as best they could when they sat down, with Buck next to Rook and Zofia next to her daughter.

"This is Sebastien." She said to her "He's a very close friend of mine."

Buck smiled at Sofie, who smiled back. This got him a nudge from Rook.

"Since when were you two close?" he whispered.

"When we went on that operation, remember?"

"You said you had gotten closer." Rook said "You didn't say you two got that close."

"Does it matter?"

"Well…I guess not." Rook said "I'm just not used to it is all."

"What are you talking about? I make new friends all the time."

"Thanks for rubbing it in jerk."

Just as Zofia began to eat, Ela got up and basically dragged her sister with her. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Ela brought Zofia outside of the mess hall before she decided to speak. "You're letting the man you're cheating on your husband with meet your daughter? Are you crazy?"

"What? We were hiding it well."

"Zo, you two might as well have been snuggling when you approached the table. What part of that was hiding it well?"

"We didn't know you'd be there."

"Exactly." Ela said "You never know where they'll be so you need to be extra careful. What would you do if-, well shit, Jeremiah just returned."

"What?" Zofia peeked through the little window on the door and sure enough, her husband was talking to her lover.

"You see what I mean?" Ela said "If you keep being careless like that you'll fuck up. Are you waiting for him to catch you when Sebastien's balls deep inside you before you learn?"

"Ela, what the fuck!"

"Ok fine, too far but you get the point." Ela said "Don't make me warn you again."

The two of the walked back in and sat down into a conversation between Jeremiah and Buck. The former was asking the latter how they met and as per usual, Buck was able to answer everything as if he had been rehearsing it. Although with how careless they had been recently, she won't be surprised if he did.

"Zofia, why didn't you tell me you needed your husband on that operation you went on?" Jeremiah asked "I could have gone with you so you didn't have to make Sebastien pretend."

Unlike Buck, Zofia had trouble thinking of an excuse under pressure so she had prepared for this the second she and Buck had finished hooking up for the first time.

"Harry said he wanted all the operators to be from Team Rainbow so that he won't be liable if anything bad happens to anyone from a different agency."

"Well you could have at least told me."

"I didn't want you to think that I didn't want you with me."

Ignoring the disproving looks from Ela that she had earned after throwing Harry under the bus, she continued eating, her mind wandering back to a similar interaction she had with Jeremiah a few years back.

…

Zofia sighed in frustration as she stared at the numerous files on her desk. No matter which way she looked at them, she just couldn't make sense of it. The fact that it was also well past working hours wasn't helping either. She took a long sip from her coffee in an attempt to stay awake.

"That's not good for you, you know?"

Zofia looked over her shoulder and saw one of her co workers.

"What are you still doing here Franklin?"

"I should be asking you that. Don't push yourself too hard. You had just given birth remember, relax for now."

"I can't." Zofia said "Not until I solve this case. I won't be able to sleep with it on my mind anyway."

"Ok then." Franklin said "Let me help you."

"No, I can't let you do that." Zofia said "Its my case, I don't want others to suffer for it."

"In case you haven't noticed, this isn't a competition. Let others help you for once."

"Fine. But only if you're sure you want to do this?"

Franklin grabbed a chair and sat across from Zofia and they began sorting through the files. When they were finally finished, it was almost midnight, but it was still faster than if Zofia had done everything by herself. The two of them locked up and walked home together.

"Thanks for the help Franklin." Zofia said "I would have been there all night if it weren't for you."

Franklin shrugged. "It was nothing." He said "You're house is up here right?"

"Yeah."

Franklin nodded. "Ok then. Be seeing you."

Zofia watched Franklin walk away before heading towards her door, which opened before she could even get her keys out.

"Oh, thanks Jeremiah." Zofia said, walking inside. "Is Sofie asleep already?"

"Yeah." Jeremiah looked uncomfortable. "Who was that man?"

"Franklin? He's just a co worker."

Jeremiah looked like he didn't believe her, but he chose not to say anything, which infuriated Zofia.

"I'm not cheating on you if that's what you're thinking." She said, never expecting him to be the jealous type, which was why what he said next completely caught her off guard.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you were though."

"Did I just hear what I think I heard."

"Face it Zofia, we're just fooling ourselves at this point. We're not really happy together."

"Shut the fuck up." Zofia said "Don't you ever speak like that again."

"You know I'm right though."

Unbelievable. Zofia wished that Jeremiah was actually jealous of Franklin if this was the alternative. "So what are you saying? Do you want me to actually cheat on you?"

"Of course not. I'm just saying that if you did, I'd understand."

"Well you're wrong for thinking that." Zofia said "You are my husband and I am your wife and no one is getting in the way of that. I know that if I ever catch you cheating, I'd kill both of you so why don't you feel the same way."

"Zofia-"

"We are going to make this work." Zofia said "I don't care how much of a disaster you think this is, I will not give up on you."

"Y-you're right." Jeremiah said, guilt lining his voice "Sorry for that, I wasn't thinking straight."

The sound of crying interrupted their conversation and Zofia sighed, pulling her husband in for a hug.

"I will never cheat on you." She said "Now come on. Let's tend to our daughter.

…

Zofia shook her head as she remembered her words that night.

_Oh you idiot. _She thought to herself. _If only you could see yourself now._

"Hey Zo, you there?" Buck's words brought her back to earth.

"Yeah, sorry." Zofia said, the fact that her body had been on autopilot ever since Jeremiah had asked her about Buck made her unaware that they were now sitting in Harry's office, waiting for the man himself to show up.

He soon entered the room and placed his coffee down on the table before sitting across from them. "Good morning everyone." He said "Meredith just called you right? What did she say?"

"She wanted me to bring her all the files on every undercover operator we have." Zofia said "She probably wants to see if there were any white masks that aren't as loyal as they say they are."

"And you're planning on giving her that?" Buck asked.

"I have to if I want to keep my cover."

"But you'd also be endangering all those operators."

"I know that Harry, that's why I came to you." Zofia said "What should I do?"

"You could tell her you don't have the authority to get those files."

Zofia shook her head. "She won't believe that. She knows I'm the director of operations so it wouldn't make sense for me not to have access to it."

"Give her outdated ones. If she doesn't find any familiar names then she'd drop it." Jeremiah suggested.

"All previous undercover files were shredded since it could be a liability if it ever gets leaked. The only ones I have are the ones that are still ongoing."

"Then give them to her." Buck said. "Tell her to come meet you alone, then we can take her away."

"If it were that easy, we wouldn't be worrying about this right now." Zofia said "I can't risk giving those files to her."

"Well, like it or not, its our only choice." Buck said "She thinks I'm dead, right? She won't be expecting me to be there so we can catch her off guard."

"With what she's doing, I doubt Meredith would let her guard down, even if its just her and Zofia." Harry said "She'll have someone watching her from somewhere far away, I'm sure of it."

"Then we'll have someone watching Zofia as well." Buck said.

"You're really going through with this?" Jeremiah asked "I hope I'm not overstepping here but that's a terrible plan."

"Well, either Zofia loses her cover or we put the lives of all those operatives in danger. If we don't do this now, we might not get another chance."

"I hate to admit it but Harry's right." Zofia said "I'll make the call later."

"Then at least let me go with you." Jeremiah said.

"Me too."

"No Sebastien." Zofia said "You're still recovering from your wounds, you're in no condition to be going out yet."

"Meredith won't be expecting me there, we can use that to get the drop on her."

"And if you get shot again, what happens? I do not want that on my conscience again."

Jeremiah glanced at Zofia, suspicious of how his wife was a bit too caring about the person she claimed was only a friend. Buck and Zofia noticed him noticing, and decided to drop the argument, opting to settle it when they were alone, or at least when Jeremiah isn't around.

At least that was their plan anyway, but Harry decided to settle it for them. "If Sebastien says he cam handle it, its fine with me. If he wants to go, let him."

"That's irresponsible, Harry. What if he gets hurt?"

"I understand your concern Zofia, but Sebastien's a grown man, he can speak for himself. Besides, even if I tell him no, he'd go anyway."

Knowing she was beat, Zofia pouted as Harry continued. She didn't look angry though, she seemed hurt. Betrayed, even. Their briefing didn't take long to finish after that, and soon they were leaving Harry's office. Buck was about to say something to Zofia, but her bolting away as soon as she stepped out took away his chance to do so.

He was about to go after her when he felt someone grab his arm and pull him to the side.

"Hey Sebastien, you have a sec?"

"Well I don't have a choice, do I?" Buck grumbled "What do you want Julien?"

Rook rubbed the back of his neck as he avoided Buck's gaze. "So, uh, here's the thing. Ela ran out of birth control, and as much as I love her, neither of us are really ready to be parents yet."

Buck sighed. "If you need condoms, just say so."

"Yes please."

"Do you need them now?"

"As much as I want to, we're playing with Sofie now."

"Then why did you ask for them now?" Buck asked, irritated, since their conversation had stopped him from fixing things between him and Zofia.

"Ela told me to, something about not seeing you for the rest of the night if we miss our chance."

_That bitch. _"Fine. Come look for me when you're free."

Buck walked away, setting things right between him and Zofia now his top priority.

..

Later that night, Zofia sat at her table, going through all the files of ongoing operations, looking for the undercover ones that won't endanger the operators if Meredith gets away with them. Not only was she pissed that these files didn't exist, she was also pissed with what happened earlier with Buck. Pair that with sleep deprivation, and she was a complete wreck.

"Hey Zofia?"

Even though she wanted to hear his voice, she was still pissed at him. "What do you want?"

"To apologize. For earlier."

"If you want me to forgive you, don't come with us tomorrow." Zofia said, not bothering to look at him.

"You know I can't do that."

"Why not?" Zofia asked, her voice becoming increasingly strained. Whether if it was from anger, or from holding back tears though, she wasn't sure.

"I can't just sit around knowing someone else is out there risking their lives on an op that I could be on. Especially if its you."

"You're a fucking idiot."

"Oh yeah, well what else is new?" Buck asked "I just want to be there because if anything happens, I want to be the first one by your side. I just want to help you Zofia, why won't you let me?"

"Because I don't want to lose you!" Zofia yelled, finally deciding to look at Buck just to show him that she now had tears in her eyes.

It was so quiet that they could hear a pin drop. "What?"

"Don't make me repeat myself Sebastien." Zofia said, wiping her tears away. "Shooting you was hard enough, I don't want to be the reason you get put in even more danger."

"We're always in danger Zo, its in the job description. If I have to risk a little more than usual for the person I love, then so be it. I'm not letting anyone stop me, not even you."

Zofia sniffled, seemingly wanting to utter a response but nothing came out. Buck walked up the her and wiped the tears from her cheek.

"Now stop crying and show me how beautiful you're smile is." It was cliché but Buck couldn't care less. He tucked her hair behind her ear and pulled her in for a kiss. Normally, once he felt her kiss back, he'd lift her up onto the table and take her right then and there, but tonight he didn't. Not after he had put her through all that worrying.

That, and Rook had just walked in.

"Sebastien?"


	15. Chapter 15

"Julien, calm down."

"What the hell Sebastien?"

"I can explain, Julien. Just calm down." Buck pleaded.

"What is there to explain? You and Zofia-"

Zofia took it upon herself to pin Rook against the wall and silence him with a hand to his mouth. "Shut the fuck up." She threatened. "Let Sebastien finish speaking."

Rook shakenly nodded and Zofia let go of him. Buck stepped closer to him. "Julien," he said "what you saw here stays here, alright? No one can know about this."

"When did you…"

"When we got back from Poland."

"You mean to tell me you two have been screwing around for a month?"

"We're not just 'screwing around' Nizan, don't make it sound so shallow."

"Oh, I'm sorry, let me rephrase that." Rook said "You've been cheating for a month."

Buck was barely able to stop Zofia from breaking all of Rook's teeth. "Stop speaking Julien, you're just making things worse."

"I don't know about Zofia, but I at least thought you won't be dumb enough to go after someone who's married."

"You can't help who you fall in love with Julien."

Rook scoffed. "Don't try to justify it with that bullshit."

"You're quick to call it bullshit Nizan." Zofia said "Let's not forget you still went after Ela even after I told you not to."

"That's different. Ela isn't-"

"I dare you to say she's not married, asshole."

"Well its true." Rook said "And in case you're forgetting, your family is here too. You know, your actual husband."

"One more word out of you and I-"

"Don't worry Julien, we have it under control."

"Under control?" Rook asked "You two are lucky I'm the one who walked in on you. You two are lucky I'm the only one who found out about this."

Zofia and Buck looked at each other. "Well…"

"Are you saying I'm not? How many people caught you already?"

"It was just Ela."

"And she didn't catch us, per se." Zofia said "She found out before we got together. She even said she'd cheer me on."

"Why did you listen to her?"

"Why do you care? How does our relationship affect you?"

"Well…" Rook struggled to find an answer, and Zofia crossed her arms at him when he couldn't.

"That's what I thought."

"Don't act like this is ok Zofia." Rook said "This might not affect me but it will cause a shitstorm for both of you if you ever get caught."

"Then we won't get caught."

"If me walking in on you two is anything to go on, that is clearly easier said than done." Rook said, turning to leave "I'm sure Ela told you this already, but be careful. And keep your hands to yourself tomorrow. Jeremiah's coming with you, right?"

"Yes, we know." Zofia said "Now go. And don't you dare tell anyone what you saw here, you understand?"

Rook raised a hand as his response before leaving the room. Zofia sighed and turned back to Buck, nervous to ask him something.

"Should…should we pick up where we left off?"

"Julien was right Zo, we can't keep taking risks like that." Buck said "I think we need to stop seeing each other."

Buck saw Zofia's reaction and immediately went to clear things up. "No, uh, wrong choice of words. I don't mean we should break up." He said "We just need to, like, not see each other. Literally. I know that if we're together, I won't be able to hold myself back, you know?"

"Don't scare me like that asshole." Zofia said, sitting back down on her chair "What are you waiting for then? Go on and leave."

No matter how petty Zofia insisted on being petty, Buck walked up to her, spun her around and kissed her so hard she got pinned against her chair.

"We'll have to settle on that for now."

Buck walked out of the room, leaving Zofia sitting on her chair, finger on her lips after that shocking but definitely welcome surprise. She shook her head and forced herself to put her focus back on the task at hand.

The next day came by pretty quickly after that, and Zofia found herself sitting in a coffee shop, nervously tapping her fingers over a folder of files that she definitely shouldn't have brought with her. As if she wasn't nervous enough, her phone rang, though it wasn't from the person that was causing her anxiety. In fact, it was someone who never called her first.

"Ela?"

"Take your comms out."

"What?" Zofia asked "I can't. I need to be in touch with-"

"He caught you?" Ela cut her off.

"Shit, hold on." Zofia said, taking her comms out of her ear before either Buck or Jeremiah heard too much. "I thought I told that fatass not to tell anyone."

"He's not the one in the wrong here Zofia." Ela said "I told you to be careful not to get caught again but you clearly didn't listen."

"Relax Ela, he only saw us kissing."

"I don't care. Whether you were caught kissing or being dicked down, getting caught is getting caught."

Fair point. "Sebastien trusts him not to tell anyone, and I trust Sebastien, so I'm not worried."

"That's the problem Zofia. You're not worried at all." Ela said "You get careless then you get caught. The next time this happens, I'm reporting you myself."

Ela hung up before Zofia could get another word in, though she knew she was bluffing. She has just as much dirt on her so if Ela does go through with it, she'd take her down with her.

Not long after that phone call, Meredith walked in the coffee shop, headed straight for her and already dragging her along without so much as a single word.

"Meredith, what's gotten into you?" Zofia asked as she lagged behind.

"I picked up a tail on the way here. We need to do this somewhere else." Meredith said, picking up her pace.

The two of them stopped near an alley and Meredith pushed Zofia inside. "I think we lost whoever was tailing us." She said "I'll go check, wait here."

Zofia nodded, watching Meredith double back when she heard her husband's voice in her ear.

"That's not us, in case you were wondering."

Zofia completely forgot about the two other people on this mission. "What?"

"The person tailing you. That's not us." Jeremiah said "Sebastien and I are still in the building next to the coffee shop."

"Then that means someone really is tailing us."

"You want us to come down there?" Buck asked.

Zofia thought about having back up in case anything happened, but ultimately decided against it. "No. Meredith is paranoid enough as it is, don't risk it."

"Well, we're only one call away if anything happens."

"I'm taking my comms out. I don't want to find out what Meredith would do if she finds it. I'll find a way to signal you if I need help."

Zofia signed off just as Meredith arrived and they began to move again, the thought of those two being alone together making her uneasy.

And she was right to be, since Buck and Jeremiah were down each other's throats at the moment.

"You heard what she said didn't you?" Jeremiah said "She told us not to follow them."

"Would you rather we stay here? For all we know, Meredith could be leading Zofia somewhere far away so she could put a bullet in her head."

"I would rather we don't blow her cover. If we follow them like you want us to, we could lose our only lead and she'd end up dead anyway."

Buck ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I don't like this." He said "Zofia's completely exposed out there."

"We still have cameras on her, we just don't have audio. We can still monitor what happens so relax." Jeremiah said "I don't know what you're getting all worked up for."

"I can't believe you're not worried at all!" Buck yelled "Your wife is risking her life out there and you're acting like its nothing."

"Its because she's my wife that I'm not worried. I know she can take care of herself, and if you're as close to her as she says you are, you should too."

Buck knew Jeremiah was right, but the feeling of being helpless didn't let him admit it. He stood up, holstered his pistol and went for the door, something Jeremiah didn't even have to look at to figure out what he was up to.

"You follow them and two agents will die today."

Buck's grip on the doorknob tightened as he decided on what he was going to do. "I'll take my chances." He said, swinging the door open and walking out of the room.

On her end of things, Zofia grew increasingly anxious as Meredith led her farther and farther away from where other people can see them.

"Where are you taking me Meredith?" Zofia asked, trying her best to make it sound out of annoyance, rather than nervousness.

"We're meeting up with a few of my guys." Meredith said.

"What? I thought you went alone."

"Is that a problem?"

"The whole point of meeting up in a coffee shop was for it to be inconspicuous." Zofia said "If we're surrounded by terrorists then what was the point?"

"You can thank the person following us for that. I am not risking doing it at the coffee shop if we're not completely safe."

As their surrounding slowly got more and more deserted, Zofia grew more and more restless, the thought of cutting her losses and taking Meredith right then and there kept creeping into her mind. Granted, she was unarmed, but with her target being this close, she was confident she can take Meredith down before she gets a chance to pull out any weapon that she could have on her.

Before she could make up her mind though, she was already faced with nearly a dozen armed white masks.

"This is a bit much for a tail, don't you think?"

Even though it was just them there, Meredith's guys were still tense, fingers still hovering over the triggers of their respective fire arms. Zofia was about to ask when Meredith pulled a gun on her and everyone else followed.

"There was no tail, these guys are here for you."

Zofia's heart stopped. The files in her hand fell to the ground as she took a step back.

"What's with that look Zofia?" Meredith asked "Did you really think I'd believe you would turn just like that?"

"Part of me did."

"Well that part is stupid. On your knees."

Forced to comply, Zofia had no choice but to let Meredith frisk her for any weapons before ziptiying her hands together.

"Again, isn't this a bit much for one person?" Zofia asked "Are you not confident you can take me on by yourself."

"As much as that hurts my ego, I'm not giving you a chance to stall for whoever it is coming to your rescue by answering your questions."

Zofia hadn't even realized that she was doing that, though it didn't make a difference. With her comms out and the camera she had on her having been dropped when they were running, there was no way she could tell the others where she was, or that she was in danger.

Then a grenade fell at their feet.

Quickest to react, Zofia kicked it away from her, and towards her captors. She dove to the ground as it went off, seemingly having been missed by all the fragmentations. The white masks left standing soon joined their dead comrades with just a handful of shots, all of which coming from a gun that had a bark Zofia was awfully familiar with.

As her men died around her, Meredith, who was thrown to the ground after the initial blast, got up with a rifle in her hands. She aimed for where the shots were coming from, managing to pin point it as it took the last few white masks out.

"Meredith!" Zofia yelled as she jumped her, choking her using her zipties before she could get a shot off.

They both fell to the ground, Zofia kicking the rifle out of Meredith's hands. She continued to choke her, determined not to let go no matter how much she struggled. Meredith pulled out a knife and took a stab at her, slashing her cheek. She stabbed at her again, this time catching her in the hand. Zofia screamed in agony as Meredith pulled the knife out of her to have another go at her. This time, when she swung back, Zofia used her wrists to block it, the blade barely missing her and instead cut through her zip ties.

With free range on her hands again, she used on to hold Meredith's arm still, and used the other one to angle the knife and drive it into her chest. It ripped through the fabric of her vest, though it didn't actually go in. The fight in her slowly started to give out though, and with all her back up dead and her chance of running away now basically gone, who could blame her.

Zofia sensed this as well but she didn't let up. She kept pushing the knife into her, not wanting to stab her but not wanting to let her move either. "Tap out Meredith, you're done."

Surprisingly, she did tap out, and Zofia let go. With a rifle in her hand, Zofia ordered her to ziptie herself, which she also did. Now with no threat to be seen, Zofia called for the others to come pick them up. After being told it would take a couple of minutes, she looked at Meredith.

She sighed at the sight of her. "What happened Meredith? Why did you do this?" she asked "How do you think your father would feel?"

"Sebastien said the same thing." Meredith said "Sorry for making you kill him, you two were good for each other."

"I didn't kill anyone. Sebastien's fine."

"Figured you'd find a way to keep him alive. Let me guess, he was the shooter, wasn't he?"

"Who else could it have been?"

Meredith gave her a sad smile. "At least I can die with a clear conscience."

"I think you have to clear more than just that on your conscience." Zofia said "But it doesn't matter, since you're not dying."

"Wait, what?"

Zofia shrugged. "You could still be useful. If you cooperate, the worst you could get is a life sentence, or something short of it."

Meredith seemed to cheer up, even if it was just by a little. "Well, ok then. That's good to hear."

"Oh come on, did you really think I'd kill you just like that?"

"Does this mean we're still friends?"

Zofia raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you serious?"

"I'm not hearing a no."

"You're not hearing a yes either." Zofia said "If you play nice, I might just come and visit you in prison every now and again."

"Will Sebastien be coming with you?"

"Knowing him, he'll probably visit you before I do."

Talking about Buck made her realize something, and seeing both him and Jeremiah approach them from the distance made her realize that she should have cleared this up the first chance she got.

"I think it goes without saying that if you mention my relationship with Sebastien to anyone, I'll kill you."

"Don't worry Zofia, I know when I've been beaten." Meredith said "I'll keep my mouth shut."

After everything that she's done, Zofia found that hard to believe. "You better."


	16. Chapter 16

…

Zofia sat on the passenger seat, watching as Sofie waved goodbye at them as she ran alongside other children towards the school entrance. Jeremiah waited until they were all inside before finally driving away.

"That was harder than I thought it would be."

"Don't get all emotional on me Jeremiah." Zofia said, though she would be lying if she said she didn't choke up a bit. "Today may be her first day of school but close your eyes and the next thing you know, she's graduating from college."

"Thanks for reminding me I'll grow old someday."

"Oh please, I'm older than you so you have no right to say that."

As they pulled up to the parking of their office building, Jeremiah brought up a topic that Zofia had desperately hoped that he wouldn't.

"Are you going to through with their offer?"

Zofia sighed. "So you know about that too?"

"Why wouldn't I? That's all anyone is talking about right now. You know how lucky you and your sister are to get that kind if offer?" Jeremiah asked "We're talking about the best of the best here, Zofia. You'd be stupid not to go. Hell, the fact that we're even discussing this is stupid."

"That's easy for you to say, you don't have to leave your family behind."

"You might be confused here Zofia, you're not leaving anyone behind, you're just going to a different country." Jeremiah said.

"Exactly. I'd be leaving you guys here."

"So you go to England and suddenly you're no longer a mother or a wife? We'll always be here, but opportunities like this aren't."

Zofia scrunched up her face. "Fine, I'll do it."

"Damn straight." Jeremiah said "We'll be cheering you on so don't forget us, alright?"

"I won't."

…

"Are you sure you don't need to go to the infirmary?"

Zofia shook her head. "No, this comes first." She said, staring at Meredith through the one way mirror.

"Well at least get cleaned up. I'll tell Harry to wait for you to get back."

"I said I'm fine. You seem awfully worried for someone you threw a grenade at."

"I didn't think it would bounce that far." Buck said "Come on Zo, it won't take-"

"Sebastien!" Zofia yelled "Just stop, alright. I said I'm fine."

"Are you mad because I'm annoying you or because I've been distancing myself from you?" Buck asked "Because I'm sorry for both."

Zofia looked like she wanted to yell at him again, but she didn't. "Don't be sorry. We needed space first so we don't slip up again."

Buck put his arm around her. "You say that, but I'm not convinced that you were happy with that decision."

Zofia's seemingly tough and serious front slowly started to crumble. "Because I'm not." She said "I hate not being able to show you how much I love you, even if it was just for a day."

"We don't have a choice Zo, your family is here. We can't risk getting caught by them."

"That's what pisses me off." Zofia said "We have to consider them in everything we do. We can't just do what we want to."

"You're having an affair with me Zo, what do you expect?"

Zofia looked at Buck, sorrow in her eyes. "I don't want to keep hiding this anymore Sebastien."

Buck suspiciously eyed Zofia. "Zofia, what are you saying?"

Buck had a point, what was she saying? "I…I don't know. Forget I said anything."

"As much as I want to, I can't." Buck said "Zofia, are you saying that we should tell them?"

Zofia hadn't realized that that was what she was implying, but it was too late now. "Well, they'll find out eventually Sebastien. Whether they find out now or later, they'll still be pissed so we might as well get it out of the way now."

"Still, we can't just drop a bomb like that out of nowhere." Buck argued "Think about how your husband and daughter would react."

"Jeremiah would understand."

"Then what about Sofie? How will you explain an affair to a six year old?"

Zofia clenched her fists. "Look, just forget I said anything so we can move on already."

Seeing Zofia be spiteful made Buck guilty, and he pulled her into a hug as an apology. "I want to be with you too, Zofia. I want to be able to do everything with you without having to worry too, but you have to understand that that is something we can't do."

Zofia's voice broke. "Its just so hard Sebastien."

"I know Zofia." Buck said, letting her rest her head on him as he rubbed her hair. "I know."

After letting each other go, they went on with the interrogation, though it was a bit more tricky than they expected, since Harry deemed them too close to the case, though they were also the ones who knew the most about it, so if anyone else did it, they won't get much out of it.

Zofia was barely able to convince him to let them do it, and even then, he only allowed her to do it so Buck had to wait outside. His back and forth pacing while waiting was interrupted when Ela arrived to ask about their situation.

"Harry didn't want me with them during the interrogation."

"Did he say why?"

"I wouldn't be sulking this much if he did." Buck said as he stared at them through the mirror. "She better keep her mouth shut."

"Isn't that the opposite if what we want?"

"You know what I mean Ela. If Meredith mentions anything about me and Zofia, I swear to god I'll kill her myself."

"I've never seen this Sebastien before." Ela said "You're taking this personally, aren't you?"

"I don't care that she got me shot, but if she does anything that will hurt Zofia, that's where I draw the line."

Buck caught Ela smiling at him. "What?"

"You really do love her don't you?"

Buck blushed. He had no problems in declaring his love for Zofia, but when he was confronted about it, he felt a bit embarrassed. "Yeah, what's your point?"

"Nothing." Ela said, nudging him "Come on, you're not contributing anything staring at them. Let's get out of here."

Buck looked at them, then back to Ela. "Do I have a choice?"

"Nope."

Ela grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the interrogation room.

Meanwhile, inside the interrogation room, Meredith was being almost a bit too cooperative. So much so that if Zofia didn't know any better, she'd think that she was giving them false information. She still noted it down though, since it was better than nothing.

Zofia and Harry took turns squeezing every last bit of information from her, and when she was all dry and wrinkled, they left her in the wringer. Harry and Zofia left, instructing one of the recruits to bring Meredith to one of the holding cells. Harry walked back to his office and once Zofia was alone again, she pulled her phone out.

"Where are you right now?"

"Zofia?" Buck asked "How did everything go with Meredith."

"I'll tell you that later, for now answer my question. Where are you?"

"That depends on why you're asking."

"No it doesn't." Zofia said "Now tell me where you are."

Zofia heard Buck chuckle over the phone. "I'm in the rec room with Julien and Ela. Why?"

"You never finished apologizing to me."

"What kind of apology are you looking for?"

"I don't know yet. Come to my room and see what you can come up with."

Buck chuckled again. "You know you can just ask for it directly, right?"

"I don't want to look like I'm-"

"A thirsty milf?"

"Sebastien!" Zofia yelled, though hearing him call her something lewd may or may not have flipped a switch in her.

"What?" Buck played innocent, as if what he just said wasn't insulting to someone who didn't love him.

"Do you know what you just said means?"

"Mom I'll love forever."

Why does that shit still work on her? "Just get your ass over here before I change my mind."

"Yeah, yeah." Buck said, turning his phone off and turning to his friends. "Hey guys, I'm heading out."

"I was going to ask why but with how you talked to the person on the other end, I have a feeling I don't want to know."

"I do." Rook pitched in "Where are you headed?"

"I'm going to fuck-"

"Get out of here already!" Ela said, pushing Buck away. "I do not want to see my sister in that light."

Buck and Rook both chuckled as he waved goodbye at them, making his way out of the rec room with Ela yelling behind his back. "And if you get caught I'll kill you."

Walking down the halls of Hereford, Buck made his way to the GROM quarters, running into Frost on the way.

"Oh you're back?" Frost asked "How was the op? Were you hurt?"

"If anything, I was the only one who didn't get hurt." Buck responded "Although it was sweet that you were worried about me."

"You got yourself shot last time. Someone has to care about your safety, and it definitely isn't you."

Buck shrugged. "What can I say? I put others first."

"Don't make it sound so noble. You're just an idiot."

"And that's why you love me." Buck said "I kind of have somewhere to be right now so if you don't mind."

Frost stepped aside. "By all means."

She watched Buck walk away before heading to the east wing, where all the holding cells were held, though if she were being more accurate, they were just standard quarters with more locks. Waving to the guard there, she asked where the prisoner Buck and the others just brought in. He pointed towards the end of the hall, and after a quick thank you, she walked towards it.

She looked through the bars of the doors and knocked. "Hey, you in here."

She saw a hand raise up from the bed. "Present." Its owner said "What do you need?"

"For one, I want you to look at me when I talk to you."

With a groan, the woman on the bed stood up and walked towards the door. "You happy now?"

"No." Frost said bluntly "In fact, after seeing you, I got even madder."

The woman raised her eyebrows at Frost. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Who I am is not important since I'm not the one who got Sebastien shot."

"Oh. Yeah, that was my bad."

"Yeah no shit." Frost said "You used to be a soldier too, didn't you? People like you make me sick."

"What's your name?"

Frost wasn't expecting that response. "Tina."

"Well then Tina, you seem like a nice woman and all but I don't know you well enough for me to give a shit about what you think."

"Then you wouldn't mind me saying that they should have just killed you."

"Then they wouldn't have gotten any information from me. I don't know why you're so pissed at me when Sebastien forgave me already. And he's the one that got fucking shot."

"I'm not Sebastien." Frost snarled.

"Clearly not, so you don't have the right to get mad at me. Hell, Zofia has more right to be mad at me than you do, and she's fine with me."

Frost had to make sure she heard correctly. "Zofia? Why would she-"

"Ma'am, Harry said to secure all the prisoners for the night already." The guard said to Frost "If there is still something you two need to talk about, please make it quick."

"Don't worry, we're done here." The woman said, smiling at Frost "Bye Tina."

With not much of a choice, Frost walked back, Meredith's words still clawing at her. Why would Zofia get more upset about Buck than her. Close or not, Frost had known Buck for much longer. Even if it was just by a little, Frost should have more right to be worried about Buck than some woman he was friends with for a little over a month.

That is, of course, if they were only friends.

"What the hell Tina?" her thought was so absurd that she had to verbally tell herself to stop.

Zofia was married and Buck was not a home wrecker. End of story. That was not the Buck she knew. The Buck she knows would never risk someone else's marriage like that. He was kind, caring and put everyone else before himself. He was someone anyone would want as a husband.

He was someone _she _wanted as a husband.

..

Zofia laid on top of Buck's chest, resting her head on his neck as he rubbed her hair.

"Am I forgiven?" Buck asked.

Zofia purred against him. "For now."

"That wasn't enough for you? Someone's greedy."

"Its not my fault its addicting."

"Are you referring to love or sex?"

"I'm referring to you." Zofia said "I'm addicted to you."

"That didn't sound as romantic as you thought it would be."

Zofia groaned. "My point is I love you."

"I knew that, I just wanted to hear you say it."

"Yeah well unlike you, I don't need to hear it to feel it."

Buck smirked. "I love you." He whispered into Zofia's ear and watched as she turned red. "You were saying?"

"That's not fair, my ears are still sensitive."

"Then how about I say it between your legs?"

"As much as I want you to, our neighbors are asleep already." Zofia said "And we should be too. Do you want to be on the left side or the right?"

"Neither actually. I'm going back to my room before Tina starts asking questions as to why I haven't been there lately."

"You just don't want to sleep here." Zofia teased.

"Not fair Zofia. Your roommate knows we're together, mine doesn't."

Zofia chuckled. "I'm kidding. Go back already."

Buck tiptoed back to his room, careful not to wake the other patrons of Hereford on the way back. He opened the door to see Frost in the common room, the usual cup of tea and book in her hands.

"Oh." Buck said "You still awake?"

"Yeah, I was waiting for you." Frost said "I had something I needed to say."

Buck sat across from her. "Ok, shoot."

"Remember when I was crying over my ex and you came over with beer and pizza to comfort me?"

"I also remember you getting drunk and trying to bed me."

"And you told me that not only will it not help me get over him, but it will also fuck up our friendship."

Buck chuckled. "Yeah." He said "Bit of a specific memory to bring up though."

"That's because that was when I realized."

Buck stared at Frost in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Frost found it hard to look him in the eye. "That I love you."

The two of them sat there in awkward silence while Zofia stood outside of their door, short of knocking and her jaw on the floor.


	17. Chapter 17

"…I love you."

Those words were enough to keep Zofia frozen in her place. One of her hands was just shy of opening the door when she heard it, the other was now tightly clutching the forgotten beanie she intended to return to Buck, which was the reason she was there in the first place. Now it was what caused her to hear something she hoped only she was allowed to say.

It was quiet for a bit, which was to be expected. Then she heard Buck mumble something she couldn't quite make out through the door. She leaned in closer, trying her best not to look more suspicious than she already was. Even with how close she already was, she could barely understand anything.

"…Tina…love you…"

Zofia knew that wasn't the whole message that Buck was saying but hearing what she heard made it hard for her to think otherwise. Even so, she knew Buck wouldn't leave her that quickly. Not after everything they've been through. Everything they did to each other.

No. Buck belonged to her and she belonged to him.

Nothing was going to change that, especially not some confession that came out of nowhere. Buck told her that himself, and she trusts him. Still though, he wanted to hear what he said, and as if it wasn't hard enough through the door, her family arrived.

She pushed herself off the wall at the sound of her daughter's voice. "Sofie." She said, flustered. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you." Sofie answered "Daddy said Harry wants to see all of us."

Zofia looked at Jeremiah, who nodded as if he already knew she'd ask if Sofie was telling the truth. She wanted to tell them to wait until Buck was finished telling Frost he loved someone else, but that would raise way too many questions that she was not willing nor ready to answer so she went along with them, praying that she was right to trust the man that was making her worry so much.

The first thing Harry did when they entered his office was apologize, though it was for calling them that late during the night and not for making Zofia miss something important that was happening in the JTF2 quarters.

"Did you need something Harry?" Zofia asked, allowing herself to show a little irritation. Just a little.

"Please take a seat." Harry said, gesturing to the chairs in front of him.

"What's this about?" Jeremiah asked.

"As you may know, we have Meredith in our custody." Harry said "You may also know that she was the only one who knew about your family and had the motive to use it against you."

"What does that mean?" Sofie asked.

"It means you get to go home." Harry said "If you want to, that is. You're free to stay here if you want."

Sofie looked at her father. "Daddy?"

"You need to go back to school and I need to go back to work Sofie."

Sofie pouted but otherwise offered no resistance. Something Jeremiah was grateful for. "Can you arrange a plane to take us back tomorrow?" he asked Harry.

"I can arrange for one now if you want."

"Its late, I don't want to be a bother." Jeremiah said "Tomorrow morning is fine."

Harry nodded. "Ok then. Goodnight."

The three of them left his office and walked back to the room Jeremiah and Sofie were staying at. Zofia saw Jeremiah's belongings already stuffed into his bag.

"Someone was eager to leave."

"I never unpacked." Jeremiah said "I knew that once we were no longer in danger, we wouldn't have to stay here any longer."

"So you didn't want to stay here?"

"I didn't say that Zofia. Sofie and I were glad to see you again but its hard to just leave your life behind, especially if it was because our lives were at risk."

"Well I missed you guys too." Zofia said, giving both Jeremiah and Sofie a hug.

"Can I say goodbye to Auntie Ela?" Sofie asked.

Zofia didn't want to risk the two of them walking in on Ela and Rook being intimate, but they would pass the JTF2 quarters on the way and she wanted to find out what happened with Buck so she decided to take Sofie to se her aunt.

"Sure."

On the way to see Ela, Zofia couldn't help but worry. There was no doubt in her mind that Buck wouldn't choose someone else over her that quickly, if at all, but for some reason, the closer they got to his room, the more she wanted to turn around and head back.

_Don't be an idiot._ She told herself. _Sebastien loves you. Only you._

They walked past the JTF2 quarters and time slowed down, the sounds of groaning and furniture being tossed being tossed around echoing so loudly into Zofia's ears that she might as well be in the room with them. Zofia somehow managed to keep a straight face long enough for them to reach her room.

Ela and Rook were in the common room, locking lips but otherwise fully clothed, thankfully. Sofie ran to hug her and she met her halfway.

"Hey there Sofie, what's up?"

"We're going home tomorrow." Sofie said "I just wanted to say goodbye before we leave."

Sofie let go and pointed at Rook. "I want to say goodbye to you too."

Rook stood up with open arms. "What's stopping you?"

As Rook and Sofie hugged, Ela noticed Zofia was on the verge of tears. She pulled her to the side. "You ok?" she whispered.

"Do I look ok to you?" Zofia whispered back.

"Ok, hold on." Ela said, signaling to Rook that they needed to be alone.

Rook nodded. "Hey Sofie, I'm headed back and your room is on the way, you want to come with me?"

Zofia was barely able to tell her daughter that she could when she turned to ask her. Once she and Rook were gone, Zofia grabbed a mug from the coffee table and threw it across the room in her anger before falling to her knees and breaking down into tears.

"Zofia, what happened?" Ela asked.

"Sebastien cheated on me."

"Wha-, how do you know?"

"I heard Tina confess to him when I went to return his beanie. When we passed by his room on the way here, I heard them again. They sounded as if they were trying to kill each other with how much they were grunting."

"You can't know that for sure Zofia."

"You didn't hear what I heard Ela." Zofia said "There was fucking furniture being thrown around. We never had sex that rough."

"Ok, first of all, too much information. Just calm down Zo, you don't want to be jumping to those kinds of conclusions."

Zofia frowned at her sister before pulling out her phone. "What are you doing Zo?"

"Calling Sebastien. If you were right and I was just assuming things, then he'll answer it."

She dialed his number, put the phone on speaker and set it on the table where it sat as it rang. And rang. And rang. The two of them said nothing as Buck ignored the phone call long enough for the phone to say that the call cannot be reached. With clenched fists, Zofia stood up.

"Where are you going?" Ela worriedly asked, expecting Zofia to say she was going to kill both of them. What she responded with, however, caught her off guard.

"I'm going to be with my actual husband."

Sure enough, that's what she did when she knocked on the door to the guest quarters.

"Zofia?"

"Where's Sofie?"

"She's asleep in the other room." Jeremiah said "Why?"

Zofia stepped inside and shut the door behind her. "I haven't seen you two in forever and suddenly you're gone again." Zofia said "I want to at least give you a proper goodbye."

Jeremiah stared at her. "What do you mean?"

Without warning, Zofia pushed him onto the couch and pinned him down with a kiss. "By fulfilling my role as your wife."

She kissed him again and they began to undress each other.

..

"That's when I realized I love you."

Buck stared at Frost, not saying anything for so long that she had to ask him for an answer herself.

"Well say something Sebastien."

"I…I don't know how to answer that."

"A yes or no would suffice." Frost said "Do you feel the same way?"

"Tina," Buck began "I love you too, but I've only ever seen you as a little sister."

Frost stepped towards Buck, placing his hands on her hips before placing her own hands on his face. "I think its time for you to see me as a woman."

Buck was shocked to the point that he had to take a second to realize what was happening. When he did, he pushed her off and backed away.

"Tina, I can't do this."

The elephant in the room just got bigger. And as if things weren't awkward enough, Frost just had to add to it.

"You love someone else, don't you?" she whispered.

"Well, that's usually the case isn't it?"

Frost wasn't satisfied with that answer. She was rejected anyway, she might as well clear something up.

"Its Zofia isn't it." Frost said, and even though his reaction already gave it away, Buck still tried to deny it. Something she was insulted by.

"So you're calling me stupid?" she asked. "Its one thing to break my heart but you could at least be honest as to why."

"Tina, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Frost scoffed. "Apparently being in an affair with a married woman turns you into a better liar." She said "The woman you caught told me about you two."

"Who? Meredith?" Buck asked "In case you're forgetting, she's a criminal. Do you really think lying is something she can't do?"

"Then why lie about you two of all things?"

"Did she mention the two of us being together? Those exact words?"

"Well…no."

"Then you have nothing to back up your claim." Buck said, relieved that Frost was now seemingly out of arguments.

"Let me see your phone."

What the fuck. "Pardon?"

"You heard me. Let me see your phone." Frost said "If you have nothing to hide then you won't have any issue showing it to me."

Of course he had something to hide. One look at his phone's gallery and Frost would find out that she was right all along. He was not letting her see his phone, though this proved to be easier said than done when he barely managed to step out of the way when she tried to grab it.

"You'll only look guilty when you try to avoid me Sebastien."

"No, I look like someone who doesn't want to show you his phone." Buck said.

Buck knocked down a chair when he backed away from Frost and he fell down as well. Frost tried to grab it while he was down and they fought over it until eventually Buck had enough.

"Get the fuck off me Tina! Its one thing making those kinds of accusations but this is too much."

Frost finally realized she was taking things too far and let go. She helped Buck get up and began to apologize. Knowing Buck never got mad told her she really fucked up, something she never wanted to hear.

Buck groaned as she apologized. "Its fine, its fine. Just help me clean this up." Buck said "And don't ever pull some shit like that again. Ever."

"Yes. I understand."

"Good." Buck said, placing his phone onto the coffee table as he picked the chair up as if he was testing her. Or mocking her. Or both.

"Sebastien, I don't want what happened here tonight to change anything between us."

"I'll forget everything if you do."

"Yeah, that seems-"

The sound of Buck's phone vibrating on the wood table grabbed both their attention. Frost was able to grab it before Buck could and one look at the picture of who was calling told her everything she needed to know.

"You son of a bitch." Frost said, throwing Buck's phone back at him.

"Tina, wait. Wait." Buck pleaded "I'm not asking you, I'm begging you. Please don't tell anyone about this."

Frost glared at him. "Fine, I'll keep my mouth shut." She said "But don't you ever talk to me again."

She didn't bother waiting for his response before storming out, leaving Buck standing alone in the common room.

..

When Buck woke up the next day, Frost still wasn't there, which only served to add more to the already heavy weight on his shoulders. After going through his usual routine, he headed to the mess hall for breakfast where he approached Kapkan and Lesion.

"Have you guys seen Tina?"

Kapkan and Lesion looked at each other. "Yeah, but she told us not to tell you." Kapkan said "And by doing so, I still told you. Look, she doesn't want to see you right now."

"I'd give her some space if I were you." Lesion added "You know how scary it is when the quiet ones get mad."

Buck thanked them and headed off, quickly stopping by Rook and Ela to tell them about last night before going to someone else he needed to confront.

"Hey!" he yelled as he knocked on Meredith's cell door. "Wake up!"

"Relax." Meredith said, opening the small window so they could see each other. "What's up?"

"Don't give me that bullshit Meredith. You told Tina?"

"Short black hair, right?"

"You promised Zofia to keep your mouth shut didn't you?" Buck asked "What the hell was that then?"

"I promised not to tell her family. But that doesn't matter since I didn't tell your friend either."

"Then how did she find out?"

Meredith shrugged. "All I did was tell her that Zofia was closer to you than she was. That's all." She said "If your friend found out about you, then it means she got it from somewhere else."

"There are only three people in base that know about us, two of which I trust and the other one locked away. Who else could tell her?"

"You and Zofia." Meredith said "Or more specifically, your actions. How do you act around each other? Before I bugged your room back in Poland, you actually got me to believe you two were married, and you weren't even together yet. Now that you two are, do you really think people won't figure out?"

"Well, if you put it that way…"

"If I put it that way, you two are fucking idiots. Don't lump me in with the two of you."

"Uh, you're right. Sorry."

"Stop talking to me and start talking with Zofia." Meredith said "Talk about how you two can stop looking like you're plugging each other."

Buck nodded and was about to leave when Meredith called for him. "Hey Sebastien." She said "We still friends?"

Buck stared at her. "Yeah."

..

After seeing her family off, Zofia headed to the mess hall where her sister was waiting for her.

"You didn't come back to your room last night Zofia." Ela said "What did you do?"

"I did exactly what I said I would." Zofia answered, not bothering to stop walking for this conversation. "What's it to you anyway? You never showed the least bit of interest in my family before a few months ago."

"That's not fair Zofia."

"Its true."

"This isn't about us Zofia." Ela said, catching up her sister who was clearly trying to walk away from this conversation. "Sebastien came to me this morning."

That finally got Zofia to stop. "What?"

"You heard me. He told me what happened last night." Ela said "Tina found out about you two when he rejected her. Those sounds you heard, that was them fighting over his phone."

Zofia stared at Ela, who just continued. "He didn't cheat on you Zofia." She said "Now answer my question Zo, what did you do last night?"

"I fucked up."


	18. Chapter 18

When Buck sat down for breakfast, Ela and Zofia were arguing over something that they were very clearly in disagreement over. It was intense to the point that it looked like it would get physical if they weren't in a public place. Meanwhile on the opposite side of the table, however, Rook went on with his meal as if there was nothing going on in front of him.

"What's going on here?" Buck whispered.

Rook shrugged. "They were already like this when I got back from getting breakfast." He said "God, its like back when they first got here a few years ago."

"Do you know what this is about?"

"If I did, I would be listening in to find out how I can side with Ela and still be right, but I missed a few details so I decided not to listen at all anymore."

"Yeah. I'd do the same thing for Zofia too."

"Then we'd be arguing as well." Rook said "Look at them go at it. I doubt they even noticed you sat down."

"I doubt they noticed you if they have been arguing for as long as you say they have."

Rook took a sip from his mug. "Yeah, probably."

"Is that coffee?" Buck asked "Look who's growing up. I'm proud of you."

"I don't need your approval, though I won't be getting it anyway since its just hot cocoa."

Buck looked disappointed at Rook. "You are a child."

"Well you are the reason these two are arguing." Rook said, waving to the sisters in front of him. "They've been throwing your name around for as long as I've been here."

"I thought you said you weren't listening in on them."

"I wasn't, but that doesn't mean I couldn't hear them." Rook said "You must have fucked up bad if they've been arguing about you like that."

"What are you talking about, I didn't do anything."

"That's not what they think." Rook said "Unless you know any other Sebastiens that have been fucking Zofia."

"You better keep your mouth shut if you want it to still have teeth."

"Relax, no one can hear anything over those two arguing." Rook said "Now can you please fix this? I like it when Ela's loud, but not like this."

"Gross." Buck said before slamming his fists on the table, shocking everyone at the table but him. "What the hell are you two fighting over? Its breakfast for fuck's sake."

The fact that Buck raised his voice specifically for this matter, when he's usually soft spoken was enough to get the two sisters to feel guilty. "Sorry."

"So what were you fighting over?"

"Zofia has something to-ahhhhhhhh!"

Ela slumped down on the table in pain as Zofia did something with her hands under the table that neither Buck nor Rook wanted to find out what.

"What was she saying Zo?"

"Nothing you have to worry about." Zofia said, sounding way too innocent for it to be authentic. "Just continue eating, love you."

Even Rook knew something was wrong. "That's not normal."

"I'm with Julien on this one. You're the one who's afraid of getting caught and suddenly you say things like that openly." Buck said "What did you do?"

"Like I said, its nothing to worry about." Zofia repeated "If it had anything to do with you, I would have told you already."

"Well…sure. I trust you."

All that did was remind Zofia what a terrible person she was. "Thanks. Now can we continue eating already?"

That was mostly aimed towards Ela, who was still slumped over the table. She nodded to Zofia and her other hand reappeared on the table when she began eating again as if nothing happened.

The same could not be said for the others though. They could not just pretend as if Ela and Zofia weren't down each other's throats just now. Buck respected Zofia's privacy enough not to pry, so although it clawed at him, he continued to eat.

Rook didn't respect her as much though, so he bugged her until he was the one who was slumped down onto the table in pain.

"Ok Zofia, you may be harsh sometimes but this isn't like you." Buck said "If something's bothering you, you can talk to me about it."

"I…I can't."

Buck thought as to why that was the case. "Am I the one that's bothering you?"

"No. Absolutely not."

"Then what is it?"

Backed into a corner, Zofia saw no way out of her predicament. She knew herself that she was a terrible liar so that wasn't an option. Changing the subject wasn't an option either, since Buck had already asked her about it several times and if she did, it would be pretty clear that she was dodging the question, which will only make her seem even more suspicious.

"Sebastien, I-"

"Hey." Nokk suddenly appeared out of nowhere to interrupt them. "You're Tina's friend right?"

"I think I still am. Why?" Buck asked.

"She's at the firing range right now, looking way too pissed for it to be safe for her to be handling a firearm." Nokk said "If you did something to piss her off, I think you should fix it before she kills anyone."

"Shit." Buck said, making quick work of his food before getting up "I'll be back guys."

Normally, Zofia was annoyed by how much Nokk meddled with the business of others, but she just saved her ass with it so she gave her a pass. Just as she thought she could continue eating though, Rook began asking her again.

"So what did you do?"

"She cheated." Ela answered for her.

Rook looked at Ela then to Zofia. "What else is new?"

"This time she cheated on Sebastien."

Granted, Ela's explanation was pretty vague, but Rook's density took Zofia by surprise. "So she's in an affair with three people?"

"No you dumbass. I slept with my husband."

"Wait, isn't that-"

"Stop talking Nizan. Just stop."

"You know you have to tell him, right?" Ela asked "Get it over with because if he finds out from someone that isn't you, it will only make things worse."

"Thanks Ela, I hadn't realized that."

"No need to be a bitch Zo, its not my fault you fucked you're husband because you were jealous."

Zofia was about to deck her sister when Rook spoke up. "Wait, why would you be jealous?"

"I…you know what, I give up. Explain it to him please Ela, I'm going to find a way of telling Sebastien without having him hate me."

Zofia finished her food before getting up to leave as well, going straight for the firing range where she was just in time to see Buck being scolded by Frost, thought thankfully without a gun in her hands. Zofia hid behind a gun cabinet, but given how loud they were, she might as well have been in on the conversation with them.

"What do you want from me Sebastien?"

"For you to only be mad at me." Buck said "Don't bring Zofia into this."

"How do you expect me to do that? She's the reason all of this is happening."

"You're wrong Tina. I could have rejected her and left it at that. I chose to do this."

The fact that Buck was defending her even when Frost had a valid point only made Zofia feel worse for what she did. Deciding that she heard enough, Zofia went to leave when she accidentally knocked over a gun leaning against the wall, the sound of it falling enough to get their attention.

Frost got one look at her and looked as if she was about to reach for one of the many guns in the room. "Of course you're here." She snarled. "What do you want you bitch?"

"First of all, I want you to talk to me properly."

"Not happening."

"Then don't be mad at Sebastien for something I did."

"Ah, so you at least acknowledge how this is all your fault. That's nice." Frost said. "Just so we're clear, I never blamed Sebastien so stop trying to act noble by taking the blame for it."

"Tina, I chose to start the relationship." Buck said "Zofia just went along with it."

"Bullshit. I know how easily influenced you are Sebastien. You'd start a relationship with anyone who confesses."

"That clearly didn't apply to you."

Frost walked up to Zofia, who stared her down when she got close. "I don't want to hear you talk about love, Zofia." She said "Not only do you have a failed marriage, you also fell for the first person who was actually nice to you."

"Oh, and who are you to say that? You're clearly taking your anger of being rejected by Sebastien on me. Its not my fault he loves me more."

"You keep your mouth shut you bitch."

"Or what? I see you clenching your fists there Tina. If you're planning on making a move, do it somewhere that isn't full of guns I can shoot you with."

Frost glared at Zofia. "You want to go hand to hand then? I'm fine with that too."

"And what do you hope to achieve with that? Sebastien's not a prize, you know."

"I'm not fighting to win him over, I'm fighting to kick your ass."

Zofia smirked. "You won't get the chance."

"That's enough!" Buck said "Both of you calm the fuck down, Jesus."

Frost weighed her options before deciding Zofia wasn't worth it. "You're right, that is enough." She said "I talked to Harry. He said the CTU quarters were just a formality and that we weren't required to actually stay there."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm moving out." Frost said before looking at Zofia. "I hope you're happy bitch."

Frost then proceeded to leave, hitting Zofia with her shoulder on the way out. It was quiet at first, with Zofia not sure how to feel. She wanted to be happy that she won, but knowing Buck quite possibly lost a friend was making it hard for her.

And there was also the fact that she still had to tell Buck what she did.

But for now she had to comfort him. "Sebastien, I'm sorry. She was right, if I hadn't-"

Buck surprised her when he pulled her in for a kiss. "Don't you ever say that Zofia. You were the best decision I ever made."

Zofia smiled at him. "Same here."

The two of them hugged, not noticing that Rook and Ela just arrived.

"Oh look, you already told him you slept with your husband."

Zofia felt Buck's grip on her loosen. "What did he say?"

"Nizan, I will-"

"You slept with Jeremiah?" Buck asked. "When?"

There was no backing out of this one. "The night they left."

"Right after we did?"

Zofia guiltily nodded. Buck took a step back, his expression showing how hurt he was, making Zofia feel a million times worse. The tension in the room was so heavy it felt like they were being crushed.

"Say something Sebastien." Zofia pleaded "I'm sorry. Please say something."

"Was he the one who asked for it?"

Zofia could have said yes. She could have lied and end this right here and now. But she couldn't. She couldn't live with herself if she did.

"No. I initiated it."

Buck finally looked at her just so she can see in his eyes just how much she hurt him. "Why?"

"I heard Tina confess to you and I heard grunting so I thought you two…"

"So you decided to get me back by fucking someone else?" Buck asked "Did it not cross your mind to ask me first?"

"I wasn't thinking straight."

"Clearly. Did I do something wrong Zofia?" Buck asked "Have I not proven to you how much I love you yet?"

"You've done more than enough to show it to me Sebastien." Zofia said, desperately grabbing Buck's hands only to have him yank them away.

"I find that hard to believe." He said "If that were true, then this wouldn't have happened."

"Sebastien…" Zofia wanted to say something, but she couldn't think of anything.

"I need to be alone for a while." Buck said, making the three other people in the room watch him leave in awkward silence, since none of them wanted him to leave but weren't able to stop him either.

He hadn't gotten that far when her heard Zofia yell. "I am going to fucking kill you Nizan!"

As all hell broke loose in the room behind him, he only kept walking.

…

It was well past sunset and yet Buck was still on the roof, getting drunk by himself. He chuckled as he crushed the beer can in his hand once he finished it. He threw it to the ground where it joined the others. Things were actually quite peaceful on the roof at this time of the night. He enjoyed the peace and quiet. Then again, maybe that was just the alcohol talking.

"Don't you remember what Harry said the last time he caught you drunk?"

Buck lazily looked over his shoulder. "Oh, it's the other sister."

"Why? Am I not the one you want to see?"

"I don't want to see anyone at all." Buck said "I just want to sit here with my chair and my beer. Is Julien still alive."

"Yeah. I somehow got Zofia to calm down." Ela said.

"That's a shame too. Those two were actually starting to like each other. Now its back to square one."

Ela sighed. She didn't come here to talk about that. "How long have you been here?"

"I can't remember actually. I know that I've been here for a while though."

"Clearly." Ela said, looking at the portion of the wall that smelled like piss. "Jesus man, gross."

"Oh fuck you. If you came here just to make me feel worse, then you shouldn't have come here at all."

As if the slurred speech and hiccups weren't enough of a giveaway, the smell of alcohol when Ela approached Buck made it clear that he was wasted.

"Just how drunk are you right now?"

Buck looked at the beer can in his hand. "Oh, just enough for me to start having weird thoughts about our colleagues." He said "Do you think Nokk can make a sex tape if she can't be seen on camera?"

"Well, I doubt she would wear her gadget while having sex. Plus we can still hear her so I gue-, wait that's not the point!" Ela yelled, ashamed that she actually thought about that. "Look man, come back down and talk to Zofia. I know you're mad but-"

"Why would I be mad?" Buck asked. "She slept with her husband. I mean, that's normal isn't it?"

"Sebastien-"

"If anything, she should be mad at me." Buck continued. "I'm the one who fucked her family up."

"Sebastien-"

"I mean, who am I in her life anyway? If we didn't have to pretend we were married, then she wouldn't know I exist anyway."

"Sebastien! Shut the fuck up, god you're making me feel bad just listening to you." Ela said "I get it. I'd be pissed too if Julien cheated on me, but sitting here feeling sorry for myself isn't doing jack shit so head down there, sober up and find a way to work things out."

"That's the thing though." Buck said "She didn't cheat on me. What she did that night was the only right thing she did in all of this. So why am I mad at her?"

"We both know the answer to that, dumbass."

Buck sighed. He took out a folded up paper from his pocket and threw it to Ela. "I found that crumpled up on the floor of her room."

Ela unfolded it and read its contents. "Wow, I…I don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything. I was speechless when I saw that for the first time too."

"Then you really need to talk to her. This isn't something she came up with on a whim."

"Which was probably why she didn't go through with it." Buck said, grabbing the paper back. "You're right. I'm going to talk to her tonight. Is she still awake?"

"I think so. I'll be in your room."

Buck handed her the keys. "With Julien?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Then that means Zofia hasn't castrated him yet."

Ela chuckled. "Come on then." she said "Are you sober enough for the stairs?"

"Yeah."

As the two of them stood outside the GROM quarters, they parted ways. Buck entered, calling out Zofia's name. The woman herself opened the door and emerged from her room, surprised that Buck was still talking to her after what she did.

"Sebastien?"

"Yeah, its me."

He walked up to her, wiped a tear from her eye and kissed her. The kiss was deep and went on for a while, only ending when Zofia broke it.

"Does this mean you forgive me?"

"I can't stay mad at you Zo." Buck said "I love you too much."

Zofia smiled. "I love you too."

"I know." Buck said "Which is why I think we need to break up."


	19. Chapter 19

**Sorry this one kind of took a while.**

The room was so quiet, Buck could have sworn he heard Zofia's heart break into a million pieces. "W…what?" She asked, her voice quivering "I thought you forgive me."

"I do forgive you Zo. That wasn't the reason why I chose to do this."

"Then what is it?"

Buck took out the letter from his pocket and gave it to Zofia. She unfolded it and began reading its contents, immediately recognizing what it was when she read the first line.

"The whole thing was a pain in itself to read but what really hurt were the last few lines."

Zofia looked near the bottom of the paper, words barely intelligible from how smudged they were when she was crying as she wrote it way back when. Though of course she knew what it said since she was the one that wrote it.

_You brought me happiness I would have never expected to have, much less deserve. I love you, but I can't be with you anymore. It would make things complicated, not to mention painful. Things would be easier if we weren't together anymore._

Having to go through that again brought tears to Zofia's eyes. "Sebastien, that wasn't meant for you."

"I know. They were supposed to be for Jeremiah and Sofie right?" Buck asked "That makes it worse."

"What are you talking about? How is it worse?"

"Because you were willing to give up your family for me." Buck said "I'm not letting you choose between them or me so I'm removing myself as an option."

"That's not your decision to make Sebastien!" Zofia yelled.

"Well its not yours either." Buck said "Say what you will about Jeremiah and Sofie, they're still your family. How do you think they would feel if they found out you left them the moment you found someone you loved more?"

"Don't talk like you know what's best for them Sebastien. You don't get to do that."

"You're right, I can't do that." Buck said "Because I'm not a part of your family. I'm just some idiot who barged in out of nowhere and fucked everything up. Well I'm not going to be that guy anymore."

Zofia slapped Buck. "Don't act like you were the one behind this. You didn't barge into shit, I let you in my life. It was my decision so don't try to act all heroic by saying you're leaving so I don't have to make a choice."

"Come on Zo, we both knew this would've had to happen eventually. We can't keep acting like you don't have to choose and you weren't planning on doing anything so I am."

Zofia was at a loss for words. "I did this for us Sebastien. So we could be together." She said "I did this because I thought you loved me as much as I loved you."

Buck expected her to say that but it still hurt way more than he thought it would. "Well you were wrong. I love you even more, which is why I can't let you rip your family apart."

"You're always like this." Zofia cried out "You never put yourself first. For once can you please be selfish and value your own happiness over mine?"

"I want to Zo, believe me I do but I can't be happy knowing that you aren't."

"What makes you think I won't be happy with you?"

"You're leaving your family behind Zofia." Buck said "Try all you want, but that will eat away at you no matter how happy you say you are."

"But I don't want to lose you either."

Buck stayed silent. If there was anything he could say in that situation, he didn't know what it was. The only thing he could do was apologize. He tried to pull Zofia into a hug but she swatted him away.

"I don't need your apologies Sebastien." Zofia said, voice trembling from how much she was holding her tears back. "Just go. If you really want to leave me then go on ahead. You know where the door is."

"Please don't do this Zo." Buck pleaded "I don't want this to end but if it has to then I at least want it to end on good terms."

"This doesn't have to end Sebastien. You're choosing to end it. I won't force you to change your mind, but you better make sure I never see your face again."

Zofia didn't mean for her to sound like a toxic ex but she knew that it would hurt too much to see him after what happened tonight. She expected Buck to try and convince her that this was the best thing for both if them, but he didn't. He offered her one more apology before composing himself and leaving.

"Goddammit." She muttered to herself as she fell to her knees.

…

"Your friends are looking for you, you know?"

Buck looked behind him to see who the voice belonged to. Not that it did him any good though, since ge didn't even know the owner's actual name.

"How did you know where I was?"

Nokk sat down next to Buck, taking a good look at the view in front of her before answering his question. "You're not the only one who comes to the roof to clear their head."

"And what's been bothering you?"

"Oh, I wasn't referring to myself." Nokk said.

"You're just referring to the ones you stalk."

"I don't stalk Sebastien, I just gather information that I can use in case anyone decides to blackmail me."

Buck didn't bother. "Fine, whatever makes you happy." He said "Now what do you want?"

"To check on you, dumbass. What's wrong?"

"If you really do gather information about everyone, then you already know what my problem is."

"Fair point." Nokk said "Have you been avoiding Zofia after you broke up?"

"Why do you think I'm on the roof?"

"Running away from your problems won't solve them, you know?" Nokk said "It will only make them hurt more when you finally have to face them."

Buck didn't say anything, which Nokk took as a sign to keep talking. "I'm not going to act like I know what happened, but cutting her out of your life won't make everything that happened between you two disappear."

"I just…I don't want to hurt her any more than I already did."

"You're hurting her by doing this Sebastien." Nokk said "She most likely blames herself already, seeing the man she loves avoid her will only make her feel worse."

"What do you want me to do then? I can't just act like there was nothing between us. Being with her hurts just as much as being away from her."

"You should've figured that out before you decided to break things off with her."

"I thought I did." Buck said "I never expected things to be so hard once I actually did it."

"What, you never had break ups before?"

"None of them ever hurt this much."

"Then we both know what that means Sebastien." Nokk said.

That's what he was afraid of. "She was going to get hurt no matter what happened." Buck said "She'd lose someone whether she stayed with me or not. I knew it, she knew it, and yet we still went through with it. We should've never gotten together."

"Don't do this Sebastien." Nokk said "Don't drag all that you two have been through through the mud just because it ended."

"I can't exactly celebrate it either."

"Then leave it as a memory and move on."

Buck twiddled his fingers. Despite having gone over it countless times in his head, he still felt the need to bring it up. "Do you think we could be together again some day?"

"That is a rabbit hole you do not want to fall into Sebastien."

Buck sighed. He knew it wouldn't do him any good, but he can't help but wonder how Zofia had been dealing with all this.

…

"Come out Zo." Ela said, knocking on her sister's door. "Let's talk about it."

"I got dumped, what's there to talk about?" Zofia yelled from inside the room.

"Don't you have a spare key to her room?" Rook asked "Harry requires us to have them."

"I can't even keep track of my own keys, Julien."

"Nizan's here?" Zofia yelled through the door again. "Why would you bring him here?"

"Well, he was actually the one that said we should come here."

That was so unexpected that it got Zofia out of her room. "Did I hear that correctly?"

"Never mind that, what happened last night?"

"Don't make me go through it again please." Zofia said "Just thinking about it makes me want to fucking kill myself."

"Was it because you slept with your husband?" Rook asked.

Zofia stared at Rook for a second, still surprised that he actually gave a shit about her. "No, it wasn't."

Rook let out a sigh of relief. "Thank god, my conscience is clear."

No wonder Rook wanted to check on her. "That's what you came here for?" Zofia asked, pissed. "To see if all this was your fault?"

"Of course I wanted to find out, but I also wanted to see if you were ok."

Now she was even more confused. "Why?" Zofia asked "Its not like we're friends."

Rook shrugged. "I want to be. I'm planning on you being my sister-in-law then I want us to be closer."

The whole room went silent, both sisters caught off guard by what Rook just said.

Ela found her voice first. "What do you mean by that Julien?"

Seeing the look on both their faces made Rook realize what he just let slip. "Oh shit. Uh, Ela, let's talk about this later."

"No, you can't leave me in the air like that." Ela said, almost like she was threatening him "What did you mean by that?"

"Well, I wasn't planning on doing it just yet because of our job and all, but I am planning on doing it."

"Just worry about the details Julien, you already know my answer anyway."

Zofia saw the dumbass smile that formed on Rook and Ela's faces and she groaned. "Oh you two can go fuck off." She said "I've done the whole marriage thing, its overrated."

"Oh, she's bitter." Rook said "Just tell us what happened so we can knock some sense into that dumbass."

"I'm the dumbass, dumbass!"

"Never thought I'd here you take the blame." Ela said "If it wasn't the thing with Jeremiah, then how is it your fault?"

"I was planning on getting a divorce so we could be together."

Seeing Rook and Ela's reaction be the same as Buck's made her relive last night all over again. "Why?" the two of them asked in unison "You can't just jump the gun like that."

"I know!" Zofia yelled "That's why I didn't push through with it, but I was stupid enough to leave my letter to my family crumpled on the floor and Sebastien found it."

"Let me guess, he left you so you didn't have to make that choice."

"You're damn right he did." Zofia said "Its something that he'd do, and I can't blame him for it. He had every right to break things off with me."

"You didn't actually do it though." Rook said.

"Yeah, but I was planning to. That much was enough to scare him away." Zofia answered "I guess I can't say I blame him though. I'd do the same if I were in his position."

"No you wouldn't."

Zofia looked at Rook. "Yeah, who the fuck am I kidding, if I were in his position I would've told his family myself." Zofia said "Just another reason why I don't deserve him."

Ela and Rook nodded silently.

"You guys weren't supposed to agree with me!" Zofia said "Fuck it, never mind. I don't know what you two were hoping to achieve from talking to me, but it clearly didn't work so if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to moping around in my room."

"Well, you have a few more hours to do that because you'll be leaving soon." Ela said.

"With the man who you're moping over." Rook said "You were asking why we're really here, weren't you?"

"Did Harry put you up to this?" Zofia asked.

"It's not like he knew you two just broke up, but it doesn't matter. He didn't ask us to do this."

Rook nodded in agreement. "Sebastien did."

Zofia scanned both their faces for any hint of malice. Anything to tell her that those two were just fucking with her. She didn't find any.

"He approached me once he found out." Rook said "He said he'd do it himself, but…well, you know."

"What does Harry need me for? Why does it have to be me?"

"They're transferring Meredith to a prison facility in Poland." Ela answered "She asked for you two to be the ones who accompanied her, and I guess Harry allowed it."

"That bastard."

"You can call in sick if you want." Ela said "I have a feeling she'd be fine even if it were just Sebastien."

"No. I'm going."

"You sure?" Rook asked. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"I need to be able to act normally around Sebastien, otherwise people would get curious."

That wasn't entirely true. Sure, acting as if things were normal between them was important, but Zofia wanted to go because this all started at the same time the operation did, and she felt that being there when it ends can offer her some closure since the relationship ended at the same time as well.

Little did she know, she just made her life harder.

…

Morning came and Zofia found herself glaring daggers at Frost, who had no trouble matching her intensity.

"What are you doing here?" Frost snarled.

"I should be the one asking that question." Zofia snarled back "You are in no way involved in this operation."

"That's enough." Jager yelled from inside the plane. He poked his head out from the door and hurried them along. "Something came up with one of the recruits that was supposed to be coming with us and she was already awake and ready so Harry asked her to fill in."

"Get your ass in the plane Bosak. I don't want to be with you anymore than you do." Frost said, walking in and taking a seat.

With a groan, Zofia walked in as well and sat as far as she can from her. "How long will this take Streicher?"

"A few hours. At most, we'll be back here just before the sun sets."

"Have you taken traffic into consideration Marius?" Buck's voice suddenly appeared.

Jager shook his head. "That wasn't funny then, it isn't funny now Seb." He said "Are we cleared yet?"

"Harry's still fixing some paperwork. He'll be bringing her here soon." Buck said. "Good morning Zofia."

The way Buck greeted her so casually after what happened was something Zofia wasn't ready for. "Uh…g-good morning."

With a nod, Buck went to sit by Frost. Thankfully, Zofia was spared the awkwardness of her sitting by herself when Harry arrived, handcuffed but otherwise the same Meredith in tow. They entered the plane and filled in the seemingly huge gap between the people sitting on the opposite sides of the plane.

"You're coming with us?" Zofia asked Harry "Never thought I'd see the day."

"I arranged for me and the higher ups of GROM to have a little chat about dirty operatives." Harry responded.

"Hmm." Zofia said absentmindedly, her gaze shifting towards Buck and Frost, who were talking normally again, as if their confrontation the other day never happened.

She scoffed. Figures Frost would be like that once she found out they broke up. She expected that anyway. It was Buck that intrigued her though. He was able to hide the fact that there were things between them that it was almost as if there really was nothing between them.

Or that he didn't care about it enough for him to cry over it.

"Hey Zofia." Meredith called out, snapping her out of the rabbit hole she was about to fall into. "You mind if I sit next to you?"

Zofia raised an eyebrow at her. "Harry? You're hearing this right?"

"I know, this isn't standard operating procedure for transferring potential threats, but-"

"Damn right its not." Zofia said "We might as well let her roam free with how little restraints she has."

"Oh come on Zo, don't you trust me anymore?" Meredith asked.

"Not really, no."

"After I kept my mouth shut about the thing you asked me to be quiet about." Meredith said, raising both her eyebrows for emphasis.

Zofia doubted Meredith would sell her out over something so petty, but then again she also doubted that she'd ever be a double agent so she gave in. "Fine. Sit here."

"Alright." Meredith said, giving Harry a small nod before placing herself next to Zofia. "So Zofia, why am I sitting here?"

"You wanted to?" Zofia suggested.

"No, I know that. What I don't know is why the seat next to you was empty."

Zofia kept a straight face. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"The reason I came over here was because I know something is wrong, Zofia." Meredith said "Now tell me what it is."

Meredith didn't mean that as a command but that was how Zofia took it as. "You don't get to boss me around Meredith. Not after what you did."

Zofia's hostility towards her confirmed Meredith's suspicions. "Its about Sebastien isn't it?"

Wanting to object at first, Zofia gave up instead. "Was it that obvious?"

"Only to those who know the context." Meredith said "I know about you and Sebastien, so not seeing you two together at a time when you can be, naturally that would raise some questions."

"Congrats, you can tell if something is bothering a person." Zofia deadpanned "That isn't going to get me to tell you what's wrong."

"Then I'll just start guessing. Loudly."

She was bluffing. There was no way she'd do that. Zofia was determined to call out her bluff. She was not going to say a word.

"We broke up." Fuck.

Meredith stared at Zofia in shock. "Why? What happened?"

"It was never going to work anyway. Not with me being married and all."

"Did your actual husband have anything to do with it?"

"N-no."

Meredith sighed. "What did you do?"

"Telling you about it doesn't matter. It won't bring us back together."

Meredith didn't pry any further, something Zofia was thankful for. "So what are you going to do now?"

"Good question." Zofia said "I'd like to know the answer to it as well."

They didn't talk much after that, and Zofia nodded off at one point afterwards. She only wake up once the smooth ride she was used to suddenly turned bumpy.

"What the hell?" she groaned as she saw the others buckle up.

"Marius!" she heard Buck yell "What are you doing?"

"The radar picked up a missile!" Jager yelled back from the cockpit. "I'm trying to lose it."

Zofia strapped herself in as Jager's flying grew even more hectic, making her heart feel like it dropped into her stomach. The others weren't doing any better either, Buck and Frost barely hanging onto their seats. Despite all the commotion, there was one sound that stood put above the rest.

Aside from the disgruntled cussing from Jager, Zofia heard a beep come from the cockpit. One that started out slowly before picking up the pace. She didn't need to be a pilot to know what that meant.

Shortly after, an explosion took out the back of the aircraft.


	20. Chapter 20

"Fuck! Hold on!" Jager yelled as the plane spun out of control, the huge hole on the side of it now sucking out everything not secured in place. Unable to put her seatbelt on in time, Meredith fell from her seat and slid towards the opening of the plane.

With her hands cuffed behind her back, Meredith was unable to grab onto anything that she can use to stop herself. She began flailing her legs as she got closer and closer, desperately trying to find any traction.

"Shit. Shit. Shit." Her legs went overboard, and the rest of her would have too if Buck hadn't unstrapped and dove after her.

As if the plane wasn't spinning enough, Jager's attempts to regain control somehow made it worse, the turbulence throwing Meredith completely outside, and now Buck had to hang on for both of them. Both Frost and Zofia moved to help them, Frost making sure Buck doesn't slide out as well while Zofia tried to pull Meredith back in, all while the plane was trying to throw them all out.

Harry got up as well despite how much Jager yelled at him to stay strapped on and rummaged through all their gear. He fished out their rappelling gear and threw it to Zofia.

"Tie the around them!" he yelled "If we can't pull them back in, then at least we can stop them from falling out."

Zofia grabbed one of the ends of the rope and threw the other one to Frost. "Tie that around something. I'll go get them."

"Zofia." Buck grunted to her. "Be careful."

With a nod, Zofia slowly reached outside and wrapped the rope around Meredith's torso. Once she was secured, she went to tie Buck to the plane as well when it violently jerked, throwing her outside.

"Fuck!" Zofia barely managed to grab onto the rope that Frost hadn't finished tethering to the plane yet.

The sudden loss of slack pulled Frost to the ground, her grip on the rope holding both Zofia and Meredith's body weight loosening. She would've lost it altogether, thankfully Harry helped her grab it back and pull it far enough for them to tie it around a beam.

"Hold on Zofia!" Harry yelled.

As Frost went to tie the rope around Buck, Harry reached his hand out as far as he could. "Just a little closer Zofia, come on."

With a grunt, Zofia slowly pulled herself closer, Harry's hand looking miles away from her no matter how much she moved. When she finally felt her fingers brush against his, they heard Jager cuss from the cockpit. The plane appeared to have hit something and it spun around even more.

Frost was the first to lose her footing and she fell down, taking Harry with her. The two of the slid out of the plane and snagged Zofia on the way down.

Jager saw the three of them fall out, but he barely had time to acknowledge it in the midst of him finally losing control of the plane. Not that it mattered though, the ground was closing in so fast that it wouldn't have made a difference anyway.

…

"Hey Meredith." Zofia called out as she sorted her half of the mountain of paperwork in front of them.

"Hmm?" Meredith responded, poking her head out of the side of said mountain.

"Do you think a relationship can survive from just sex?"

"No." Meredith said flatly. "You two can know each other's body so well that you'd both be done in a few minutes, but if there's no love present, you two might as well be fuck buddies."

"Yeah, I figured as much." Zofia said, too disheartened to remember not to let it show on her voice.

Meredith noticed. "Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering."

Meredith stopped what she was working on. "What's wrong Zofia?" she asked "Is everything alright with you and Jeremiah?"

"Of course it is." Zofia never expected anyone to ask that question this early, but she was thankful that she practiced lying about it with a straight face several times in the mirror anyway.

"Are you sure? That question isn't something you just ask out of the blue."

"It wasn't directed at me Meredith." Zofia said, something Meredith clearly didn't believe.

"Then who were you asking it for?"

"Ela." Zofia said, silently apologizing to her sister. "The only time she and her boyfriend spend time together is when they're in the bedroom."

"Well Ela probably doesn't give a shit about what I think, but those two don't really love each other. Take sex out of a relationship that physical, and it won't last."

"Fair enough." Zofia said, Meredith's words low key getting to her.

"In fact, now that we're on the topic, I don't think people should be in a relationship like that at all." Meredith said. "Think about it, aside from a somewhat decent fuck, what other reason do they have to be together?"

_A kid. _"Yeah, you're right."

As they continued their work, Zofia wished she hadn't asked that question, since it only served to remind her how meaningless her marriage really was.

…

The last few minutes were a blur for Zofia. She remembered dangling out of the plane and Harry trying to reach out to her. She vaguely remembered falling out of said plane, then everything went dark. Now she's lying on the ground with Frost slumped over her and cursing her name as she tried to wake her up.

"I swear to god Bosak, I will fucking leave you here if you don't wake up."

"Tina?" Zofia groaned as Frost helped her up.

Thanks to the height at which they fell, her entire body now hurt, but nothing seemed broken, and if the way Frost was acting was anything to go by, the same could be said for her. Now all that's left was-

"Wait, where's Harry?"

"That's what you're going to help me find out." Frost said "He couldn't have gotten far from here."

Now fully awake, Zofia took in her surroundings as they searched for Harry. The lush greens and lack of any overhead buildings made it clear they were in a forest, though as to which one it was, she wasn't sure.

"Where are we, Tina?"

"What makes you think I know?" Frost said, not bothering to look at Zofia as she did. "All I care about is getting back to the others and getting out of here."

"How can you get out of here when you don't even know where here is?"

Frost stopped walking and turned to face Zofia. "Look, I know that as of right now, we're all each other has so I'm trying my best to be nice to you, but I can't if you keep asking dumbass questions like that. I'm sure this is as awkward for you as it is for me so can we please keep the talking to a minimum please?"

"So just say what's important?"

"Just say what's important." Frost repeated.

"Ok then." Zofia said, walking past Frost. "I found Harry."

"What?"

Zofia bent down and picked up a broken pair of glasses from the ground. "Part of him at least."

Frost glared at her. "You think this is funny?"

"Hardly. That man is as blind as a bat, how far do you think he can get without these?" Zofia asked, waving Harry's glasses in front of Frost.

Frost swatted Zofia's hand away. "And what makes you sure it didn't fall off when we crashed?"

"I'm not. But this is better than nothing."

"Not by a lot. We are no closer to finding him than we were before we found this."

"We won't be getting any closer to finding him if you keep acting like that." Zofia said "Why can't you just see this as something to go on instead of being so fucking negative."

"Its not negativity, its being realistic."

"Oh, is that what you're calling it? I thought that same thought but I didn't mention it. I guess you're just rude."

"Oi!" Harry's voice interrupted them.

"Harry?" Zofia asked, looking around to see where the voice could have come from. "Where are you?"

"Up here." Harry said, dangling from a tree. "Far enough from your bickering. Now stop it and get me down from here."

Zofia and Frost both looked and him and knew just what they needed to do.

"Boost me up." The two of them said in unison, the proceeding glare they gave to each other suggesting that maybe they weren't entirely on the same page after all.

"_You_ boost _me _up there Zofia." Frost said "You like kneeling down anyway, don't you?"

"You don't kneel down at all so why don't you try it?"

"I would, but I wouldn't want to break my back."

"You calling me fat, Tina?" Zofia asked "You better not be calling me fat."

"I never said anything, but if that's how you see yourself, then I won't stop you."

"Never said anything my ass. You knew exactly what you were implying with that you asshole."

"In case you two are forgetting I'm still up here." Harry said, cutting into the argument. "I'd love to wait until you two resolve this, but I'm starting to get lightheaded."

"Put your pride away already, Zofia. We need to get Harry out of there."

"If that's so easy for you to say, then you be the one to climb on."

"Like I said, you're heavier than me." Frost said, jabbing a finger at Zofia. She didn't plan for it to be an insult, since Zofia did tower over her, but that's how it came out anyway. "Now lets get this over with already."

When it looked like Zofia finally gave up, they all heard something snap, followed by a loud thud and now Harry was lying on the ground. Neither Frost nor Zofia said anything as they helped him up and gave him his glasses back.

Harry dusted himself off and put them on. He took a deep breath before yelling at the two women in front of him. Since he never raised his voice at anyone before, this definitely made them jump.

"What the fuck is wrong with you two! Zofia, you're not the type to be insecure enough for those comments to get to you. And Tina, you're not the type to be giving out those kinds of comments. You two were never close but your relationship was never this toxic either. Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Nope. Nothing at all." Zofia automatically responded.

Frost wasn't so quick to answer though. She was going over her head if she should throw Zofia under the bus right then and there, but that meant that Buck would go under with her, something she didn't want to happen.

"Tina, is there something you know about Zofia that I don't?"

Eventually, her friendship with Buck won over her hatred for Zofia. "Nope. I was just pissed and I took it out on Zofia. I'm sorry." That last part was excruciating.

If Harry wasn't fooled by that, he hid it well. Maybe saving it for when they get back to Hereford.

"Fine. Lets go look for the others already."

Zofia and Frost followed Harry, for once their mind in agreement as they though of the same thing. Out of everyone on the plane, why did they have to be stuck with each other, and how the others were doing right now.

…

"…come on…"

"…arghh…fucking…"

A yell from Buck finally woke Jager up. He sat up with a groan, finally seeing what the fuss was all about. Buck was pinned underneath what looked like a part of the wing. Well whatever it was, neither he nor Meredith could get it off him.

"Hey!" Meredith called out to him. "Help me with this."

At first, Jager was confused as to why she would want to help Buck, but seeing the amount of blood on the ground Buck was lying on made him shove those questions to the back of his mind. He got up and walked over to them.

With his help, the three of them finally got the damned thing off Buck so they could assess the damages. The cut was definitely deep, the blood on the ground enough to tell them that, but none of them knew if it had hit an artery or not. Buck was still conscious though, so that's good.

"Jesus Christ Sebastien, that looks bad."

"It feels even worse. Is there anything in the plane that can stop the bleeding?"

Jager looked at the wreckage. "A first aid kit, but I don't know if its still there." He said. "And even if it is, its just some gauze and disinfectant at best."

"I'll take what I can get." Buck said. "Go look for it please."

"On it. You, apply pressure on him." Jager said to Meredith. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

As the two of them watched as Jager ran to what was left of the plane, Meredith pressed down on Buck's wound, making him groan in pain when she did.

"Shit, sorry." She said "Come on Sebastien, you've been through worse than this right? You've been shot haven't you?"

"And whose fault was that?"

Meredith chuckled. "Technically it was Zofia. Though I'm sure she's more than made up for it." She said, then realized that that was a topic more sore than Buck's leg. "Oh shit, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be talking about her right now."

"So she told you?" Buck asked "Its fine, don't be sorry. I'm the one who broke it off anyway."

"Why though? Aren't you happy with what she tried to do?"

"What she did only made me realize how our relationship shouldn't have started at all." Buck said. "Look, no offense Meredith but I already went through this with Zofia that night, I don't want to go through it again so can we not talk about this anymore?"

"But do you still love her?"

Jager emerged from the plane, saving Buck from answering Meredith's question. "I found it!"

He kneeled down beside them and cracked open the beaten up but otherwise in tact first aid kit. "Hang in there Sebastien, this is going to hurt like a bitch."

Without so much as a warning, Jager poured disinfectant over Buck's open wound. Apologizing as he wrapped the wound in gauze as tight he could. After letting Buck calm down, Jager finally addressed something that was on his mind the moment the plane got hit.

"You seem awfully helpful, don't you?" he asked Meredith.

"And you're complaining?"

"Seeing as how you're the one who caused this, yes I'm complaining."

"Are you stupid?" Meredith asked. "Why would I take down a plane that I'm in?"

"Maybe you were supposed to fall out." Jager said "That was your plan. The plane blew up and you just so happened to not have your seatbelt on."

"And what reason can you think of that would make me want to fall out of the plane?"

"You had someone waiting to catch you. You just didn't expect Sebastien to stop you from falling out."

"Something like that isn't as simple as you put it. There are so many things that could go wrong, do you really think I'd risk my life like that?"

"I don't know. You tell me."

"Marius." Buck called out, interrupting the two of them. "Meredith is a loose end to the white masks. That was supposed to kill her, not to get her back."

"And you're sure about that?"

"That was way too risky for a rescue attempt, even for terrorists." Buck said "If they wanted to get her back, there are more ways of doing it that doesn't risk Meredith being collateral damage."

Jager glared at Meredith. He may not trust her, but he trusted Buck enough to drop the argument. Once the tension died down, Jager and Meredith got along enough to be able to help Buck back to his feet. At first it was awkward, the three of them almost falling down once or twice but it didn't take long for them to get used to it.

"You know, this would be easier if I wasn't handcuffed."

"This would be better if you were quiet."

Buck rolled his eyes. "That's enough, both of you. We need to find a way to get back to the others."

None of them wanted to acknowledge it, but for a loose end as valuable as Meredith, the white masks wouldn't be taking any chances. Tedious or not, they will search the entire jungle just to see if they were really dead or not.


	21. Chapter 21

"Wait, wait. My leg hurts too much, can we stop for a moment?"

Jager and Meredith guided the one-legged Buck to a tree stump where they gently sat him down. As Jager went to check on Buck's wounds, Meredith scouted ahead for where they would go, though she didn't get far before Jager called for her to come back.

"Don't even think about it."

"Do you still think I'd run? Really?"

Jager shrugged. "One of us is injured, the other is tending to his injuries. I'd be tempted too if it were me."

"Well I'm not like you." Meredith said "Even if I planned on running, which I don't, I would know that now is not the time to do it. This is a big forest and I have no navigation or anything to protect myself with. Oh, and I'm still fucking handcuffed."

"You're not getting out of those handcuffs." Jager promptly said "Even if I wanted to let you out, neither of us have the keys, so quit your whining."

With a groan, Buck got back up. "Alright, let's go."

"Is your leg not hurting anymore?"

"Nope, its excruciating actually, but walking with it is better than hearing you two argue."

Jager and Meredith glared at each other one last time before helping Buck as they began walking again.

…

The flimsy metal lock of the door fell to the ground as Zofia forced her way inside. If the tree stumps surrounding the shed wasn't enough indication that this was used by loggers, the stored cutting tools confirmed it. This also meant that civilization wasn't that far off. Maybe an hour or two at most, however as for what direction that civilization was, none of them had a clue. And if they went the wrong direction, they'll just be digging themselves deeper into the hole they were in.

"What now Harry?" Zofia asked.

"Hold on, I'm thinking."

"Do we not have any way of communicating with the others? Can we not reach out to Hereford?" Frost asked.

"I lost my phone when we fell." Harry said "Although I did tell Eliza that I'll be messaging her every hour. If I'm not able to send one, she is to wait for fifteen minutes. If she still hasn't received anything, then she is ordered to send out a search party to look for us."

"Smart." Zofia said "When did you last send her a message?"

"Right before we crashed."

The ray of hope Zofia just got started to dim a little. "That was barely twenty minutes ago."

"So we'll have to wait for another hour before she sends anyone?"

"Fifty five minutes actually." Frost said "But she also has to consider how far we could have gotten in the time that you hadn't sent her a message, which is a pretty large area. Depending on the size of the search party that she'll send, its likely that the earliest that they can find us is when its almost dark."

"That's going to be a long wait." Zofia added "Not to mention the fact that we still haven't found the others."

"They're way out ahead of us, that's for sure. They know that as well, so they'll most likely come towards our direction."

"Then shouldn't we keep moving? If we can meet them halfway, then we'll have less things to worry about."

"That's not entirely true." Harry said "The white masks shot a plane out of the sky in the light of day, where anyone could see it. If they were willing to do that, they wouldn't give us a chance of getting out of here alive."

"He's right." Frost said "If they went through all that to try and kill the white mask you caught, they would make sure she's dead. They're probably on their way right now if they're not here yet."

"All the more reason we need to find the others." Zofia said.

"We don't have much to go on though." Harry said. "I don't want to be that guy, but how are we even sure that they're still alive?"

"I have faith in them. They're still alive."

"I hope so." Harry said. "But even then, this is a huge area. How are we supposed to find them like this."

"With a truck." Frost said.

"Great, do you have one of those?" Zofia asked, her sarcasm not so subtle.

"No, but they do. Look at the ground, tell me what you see."

Sure enough, the dirt they stood on was marked with tire threads fresh enough to have been less than a day old.

"Well shit, would you look at that. This could lead us to the locals, we can ask them for help." Zofia suggested.

"There are tree stumps all over the place. These tracks could lead us deeper into the forest."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"Split up." Frost said. "These tracks look fresh, which means the loggers come back here often. One of us can wait for them to come back while we look for the others."

Both Zofia and Harry seemed in agreement.

"Fair enough." Harry said. "I'll stay here and wait."

Zofia and Frost both wanted to go look for Buck and the others, but neither of them expected Harry to allow them after showing him how well they get along. At least not that easily.

"Wait, you sure?"

"Of course not, but you two will just keep pestering me to let you go look for them anyway, so fuck it. Just remember that you won't be able to find them if you kill each other while looking."

They both nodded and went on to search for their friends.

_We're coming Sebastien. _Zofia thought to herself. _Just hang in there._

…

"For the last time Zofia, we don't need it."

"Its not a matter of needing it Jeremiah." Zofia argued. "I just think that it can make things better for us."

"If you're insisting this much then it clearly goes beyond that."

Jeremiah had no intention of backing down, and neither did Zofia. "Why don't you just give it a chance?"

"I don't want to be like those people." Jeremiah said, throwing the flyer for marriage counselling down on the table. "This is for those couples with abusive partners or those who fight all the time."

"And you're saying we don't fight? What do you think we're doing right now?"

"The only reason we're fighting is because of this marriage counselling bullshit."

"You're so quick to call it bullshit Jeremiah."

"Well it is." Jeremiah said. "Tell me, what part of our marriage isn't working?"

"Its not a matter of our marriage not working Jeremiah. It's the fact that there is something missing from it."

Jeremiah groaned. "Great, there you go again, going on about how we don't actually love each other."

"I don't see why you're denying it so much Jeremiah. I know its hard to admit but things won't get better if you keep acting like nothing's wrong."

"There is nothing wrong with our marriage Zofia."

"We're not happy either."

"The only reason we're not is because you keep on insisting-"

A beep from their pager cut in on their conversation. "Hello?" it said. "Hey Zofia, Jeremiah, I'm dropping off your daughter from school."

Jeremiah took it upon himself to answer the pager. "I'm on my way."

On his way out, Zofia called after him. "We're not done here Jeremiah."

"Yes we are."

…

"Hey Tina."

"What?" Frost responded, hints of hostility already in her voice before Zofia even said anything.

Zofia pretended not to notice. "Why didn't you tell Harry about me and Sebastien?"

"Did you want me to?"

"Clearly not. I'm just curious."

"Don't get any ideas Bosak." Frost said. "I kept my mouth shut for Sebastien, not for you."

"Don't flatter yourself, I wasn't planning on thanking you." That was a lie. She wanted to thank her. In fact, she wanted to say a lot of things to her, but her pride can't help but fight back. Not this time.

"Tina."

Frost groaned, annoyed by the fact that the person she clearly wanted nothing to do with still kept talking to her. "What do you want?"

"To apologize to you."

"I would ask what you're apologizing for but there are way too many that come to mind."

Zofia sighed. She was taking the high road for once. "I'm sure we both know what I'm about to apologize for."

Frost stopped walking and turned to face her, arms crossed. "Not really. Enlighten me."

Why the fuck was she doing this again? "For being with Sebastien."

"Are you seriously apologizing for that?" Frost asked. "You do realize that he chose you, right? Apologizing for that is basically rubbing it in my face so can you please just fuck off?"

"That wasn't my intention."

"Then what _is _your intention? Because its not clear to me as to why you're doing this."

Good question. What was she hoping to achieve with this? "I just don't want us to be fighting all the time, especially if it affects our performance on the field."

"Fine, I'll play nice when we're on an op. Are you happy?"

"No. Its not enough."

Frost ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "What more do you want Zofia? You already have Sebastien."

"No, as a matter of fact I don't. Not anymore."

The shock was so much that it actually made Frost curious enough to actually keep on talking to Zofia. "Wait, what?"

"You're really going to repeat myself, aren't you?" Zofia sighed. "Yes, we're not together anymore. He broke it off last night."

As much as Frost resented Zofia, she couldn't bring herself to say anything that could hurt her this close to what she assumed was a very messy break up.

"I bet you're happy." Zofia said. "This was what you wanted wasn't it?"

"Zofia, no. I don't like you, and I don't think you two should be together, but no."

Zofia eyed Frost suspiciously, which made her feel obligated to specify that it was for Buck's sake and not hers.

"Look, it stops here."

Frost exhaled in relief. "Thank god, that conversation was awkward."

"I meant the trail, Tina."

Frost looked at rather steep fall a few feet from them. "Well shit. Let's head back."

"Wait, not yet."

"What? Why not?"

Zofia stepped past Frost and towards the edge, testing how stable the ground was before taking another step. Behind her, Frost went to stop her, though it was more out of annoyance than worry.

"What the hell are you doing? Get back here."

"I'm looking for the wreckage." Zofia said "That can at least tell us which direction to go."

"And if you fall? I don't want to have to look for you too."

"Then don't look for me." Zofia retorted "I'm not asking you to."

"Well Sebastien will so can you please just get back here before you-"

Frost stepped forward to grab Zofia when they felt the ground rumble before falling apart from underneath them.

…

"Argh!" Buck yelled as the pain in his leg worsened with each step he took.

After nearly falling down one too many times, Meredith finally had enough. "We can't keep going like this."

"Oh really?" Jager groaned. "What do you suggest we do then?"

"We go look for help by ourselves." Meredith said. "Come back for him once we've found the others."

"You want us to just leave him?" Jager asked. "He can barely stand on his own, do you really think he can be out here by himself?"

"Well we won't be able to find him help in time if we keep going at this rate."

Fair point. "Fine, lets ask Sebastien what he wants to do."

Buck stayed pretty silent during Jager and Meredith's brief argument, which was uncharacteristic for him since he'd usually break them up, and when he didn't answer Jager, they began to get worried.

"Hey Seb?" Jager asked, nudging Buck as he waited for an answer.

"Shit, no wonder he was quiet." Meredith said, crouching down so Jager can set him down on the ground.

The two of them looked over him, panicking. They were too busy arguing to notice that Buck had already passed out. Neither of them thought to check on him every now and then that they had no idea how long he had been out.

"Come on Sebastien, wake up." Jager said, lightly slapping Buck's face.

"This is bad. We're too late."

"Shut up." Jager said "That isn't helping."

"Look at his leg." Meredith said, pointing to the previous white fatigues of Buck that was now almost completely red. "He's losing blood too fast."

"I can see that, you don't have to point it out!" Jager yelled, more in panic than in anger. "Why don't you suggest what we can do instead of telling me things I already now."

In the midst of their argument, they heard Buck stir up before weakly telling both of them to shut the fuck up.

"Sebastien! Jesus christ we thought you were dead."

"So did I." Buck groaned. "The gauze isn't doing much, at this rate I'll bleed out before we find the others."

"What do we do? We don't have anything else to stop the bleeding."

"Yes we do." Buck said, groaning as he sat up and undid his belt. "We can cut off the blood flow entirely."

Jager took the belt from Buck, both of them aware of what could happen. "You could lose your leg Sebastien."

"I'll lose a lot more if I don't. Tie it."

Buck groaned as Jager tightened the belt around his already very sore wound. Their already bad handicap just got worse. The only thing keeping him going at this point was wanting to see Zofia again, if she were still alive that is.

Unbeknownst to him though, she was in fact still alive and looking for them at this very moment, along with a large number of white masks. Now as to which of the two would find them first, that was anyone's guess.


	22. Chapter 22

…

Zofia was a lot of things, and according to her sister, most of these things were not exactly desirable. At least for her, they're not. Even then though, there were some qualities Zofia had that even her sister can't deny were good ones.

For example, she was definitely not a pushover by any means.

Which is why she was smiling as she sat next to Jeremiah while they waited for the marriage counselor. Jeremiah was undoubtedly nervous, something Zofia knew was bound to happen, since she herself was nervous as well. It wasn't exactly easy telling someone her marriage was built on top of an unwanted pregnancy, even if it was that person's job to listen to those kinds of things.

Nevertheless, she was the one who wanted this, and she was going to show her dear husband that she was more than willing to go through with it.

Now if that damned counselor would just show up so this can finally get started.

"Zofia and Jeremiah?" a woman asked as she poked her head through the door. Zofia and Jeremiah nodded, prompting the woman to fully enter the room. She took a seat across from them before shaking their hands.

"So hi, my name is Maria and I understand that there is some conflict between you two."

Zofia was expecting Jeremiah to deny it, and she was more than prepared to shut him down once he does, but he just stayed silent. Perhaps he just went along with it because he wanted to get this over with already.

"That's good, neither of you denied it. The first step of solving a problem is acknowledging that there is one."

Jeremiah rolled his eyes, which just so happened to land at Zofia who was giving him the look that said "I told you so". He sighed. This was going to be a long afternoon.

"Ok, so before we get started, how long have you two been married?"

"Just over a year."

"And during that time together, when did you start to realize that there was a problem between you two?"

"Recently, actually." Jeremiah answered before Zofia could. "Zofia was suddenly so persistent about a problem that may or may not be there."

Zofia was surprised that Jeremiah didn't insist that their "problem" was nonexistent, so much so that she almost didn't hear him direct Maria's question of what that problem was to her.

"Oh, uh about that." Zofia never realized how dumb it sounded until she had to actually say it out loud. "I feel like w-we…we don't l-love each other anymore."

For a moment, Maria stayed silent. She looked at both of them before uttering a sigh. "You know, I wish it wasn't, but that is what I hear the most from the couples that sit on that sofa."

She felt bad for it, but knowing other people suffer what they do comforted Zofia. "It is?"

Maria nodded. "I can work with couples that always fight, or those with trust issues. Hell, I can even deal with abuse, but falling out of love? That's kind of hard to treat."

"Thanks for reminding us."

"Hey, I said its hard to treat, I didn't say its impossible." Maria said. "We will work this out, I promise."

Zofia and Jeremiah both nodded, and thus the session began.

"Ok so I will be asking you a few more questions so I can get a better idea of what we're working with here, but before that I just want to know, is there anything that you're not comfortable discussing?"

"Nothing in particular." Jeremiah answered.

"Great! So how is your sex life?"

Starting of with that. Of course. "I'd say its pretty lively."

Zofia slapped Jeremiah's knee. "Don't just talk about that so openly."

"Relax Zofia, this is a safe space. Everything you tell me stays in this room." Maria reassured. "Now, lets get back to the question, how were you able to say that its lively?"

Jeremiah looked puzzled. "What do you mean? What do you want me to say exactly?"

"What makes it lively? What do you two do to spice things up?"

"You do not want to go there." Zofia said "All you need to know is that anything you can think of, we've done it."

"Ok then." Maria said, not expecting to hear that kind of response. "So you two aren't lacking in that department."

"Yes, so can we not talk about that department please?" Zofia asked.

"Moving on then. How do you two treat each other?"

"Just like husband and wife." Jeremiah said.

"You need to be more specific." Maria said "Because there are the husbands that make breakfast for their wives, then there are the ones that serve it to them in bed. It may not seem like it but there's a huge difference between the two."

Jeremiah wouldn't meet the gaze of either of the women in the room with him.

"Judging from that reaction, I'm guessing you're the one who only cooks the breakfast."

The look of guilt on Jeremiah's face all but confirmed it.

"What about you Zofia?" Maria said, giving the hot seat a new occupant. "How do you treat him as his wife?"

Zofia thought long and hard for what she was going to say. She was pretty sure she was a good partner, but judging from the surprised look on Jeremiah's face, he most likely thought the same about himself.

"Are you the type to tell him to stop when he's working too much or are you the type to drag him into bed so he stops?"

Jeremiah's look of guilt soon mirrored into Zofia's face.

"Ok, I see the problem here." Maria concluded. "Look, marriage is not an obligation, it's a privilege. Its not about doing what you're supposed to do, its about going the extra mile for your partner. Anyone can make breakfast for their spouse, but one that feeds it to them, well that just gets the message across more doesn't it?"

Zofia and Jeremiah silently nodded, both of them feeling as if Maria was scolding them instead of trying to work out their problems. Not that she was regretting her decision, but Zofia wasn't as confident as she was when she walked in the room.

"Do you know what to do when a fire is dying?"

Zofia shrugged. "Add more wood?"

"Exactly. We need to rekindle that spark when you two first got together." Maria said "How long did you two know each other before you got married?"

_One week. _Like hell either of them would say that.

"We'd rather not say."

Maria was expectedly puzzled. "Why would you not want to disclose trivial information like that?"

"We have our reasons."

"That doesn't make it any less vague, but I won't pry. You two are entitled to your privacy."

Jeremiah nodded. "Thank you."

"Let's try a different approach." Maria said, getting up from her chair. "Would you please take my seat."

"Uh, sure." Jeremiah was now face to face across Zofia. "What do we do now?"

"I want you two to look at each other, and try to remember the reason you two got married."

The two of them did as they were told, and after a while, Maria told them to stop.

"What's wrong?"

"I've been a marriage counselor for over ten years, and in those ten years I have made countless couples do that exercise, only a handful had the same look that you two have."

"Is that a good look or a bad look?"

"It's the look that says the reason you two are married isn't in this room right now." Maria said. "Let's start over."

Zofia knew this question was coming but it didn't make it any easier for her to answer it.

"Tell me, Zofia and Jeremiah, what was the real reason you two got married?"

…

Buck groaned as Zofia half carried him back to the shed they had found. He wanted to pinch himself at first, but the pain in his leg was enough reminder for him that he was awake.

"Are you really here with me Zo?"

"What? Where else would I be."

Buck shrugged. Or at least he tried to. "I don't know, this all seems too good to be true."

"This is good?" Zofia asked.

"Hey, I forced the others to leave me so they can look for you guys quicker. It felt smart at the time but then I was alone and probably about to pass out, so I'll take what I can get."

"You're lucky we found you then."

Buck shook his head. "I'm lucky to be found, but I'm happy to have been found by you."

"Hey, I found you too." Frost cut in.

"And I thank you for that, Tina." Buck said. "Come to think of it, how did you two manage not to fight long enough to look for us?"

"We both wanted to find you." Zofia said.

"Well now you did. I'm assuming you'll be looking for Marius and Meredith next. When you do, what then?"

"We found a logging shed." Frost said "Harry's waiting there right now in case any loggers come back, and he also told Cohen to send a search party if she doesn't hear from us in a while."

"So we just have to wait?"

"Are you not up to it?"

"I don't think I have a choice." Buck said "But I think I'll be fine as long as you guys are with me."

"We still have to look for the other two, but you'll be with Harry, is that enough?"

Buck chuckled. "As long as I'm not alone, I'll take anybody."

"Be careful what you wish for Sebastien." Frost said "We're not the only ones here."

"Yeah, the thought crossed my mind as well. How long do you think we have?"

"They might already be here."

"That's enough." Zofia said, fed up with all the negative energy she was surrounded with ever since they crashed. "Let's just hope Cohen's search party finds us first."

Not much was said by any of them until they had finally reached Harry. Frost and Zofia dropped Buck off and wasted no time in leaving to search for Jager and Meredith.

"Keep him safe Harry." Zofia ordered "We'll be back as soon as we can."

"Wait." Harry said as he gave them a radio "I found these while you were gone. If anything happens, let us know."

Zofia pocketed it, nodded and the two of them went back to look for the others. "They couldn't have gotten far, right?"

Frost shook her head. "From the looks of it, we found Sebastien just after they had left." She said "Thank god we landed near to where he was when we fell."

"And you got mad at me for it."

"I'm not even going to try and explain to you why."

The two of them went on to find a pair of handcuffs on the ground just as they thought the trail started to go cold.

"Looks like Meredith got him to free her."

"Yeah." Frost said absentmindedly. "Hey Zofia, why didn't you stay behind with Sebastien?"

"Hmm?"

"Neither of them are injured, so they don't need two people to look for them. Why did you come with me?"

Zofia shrugged. "Meredith's my responsibility. If anyone is going to bring her back, it should be me." She said "Your turn. Why didn't you stay with him?"

"I'm sure he prefers you to be there with him." Frost responded.

"Tina, you-"

"No, don't talk. Just shut up." Frost cut her off. "I don't like you, but you make Sebastien happy so I guess I can live with you two being together."

Zofia smiled. "You must really love him."

"I literally just told you not to say anything." Frost said "I don't need you patronizing me."

"I'm just saying that if I wasn't in the picture, he'd be lucky to have you."

Frost slugged Zofia in the arm. "That's worse than patronizing me. Just don't talk about Sebastien. At all."

Zofia allowed herself a small chuckle. "Yeah, whatever."

After wading through thick greenery, Zofia and Frost arrived at a ledge at the top of a clearing. It gave them a pretty good view of the area below them, giving Zofia the chance to spot something in the distance.

"If we fall from here, do you think we'll find them too?"

"Get down." Zofia said, tackling Frost to the ground and getting on top of her.

"What the hell are you doing?" Frost demanded, flustered from the sudden and very close contact with the person she had just sorted things out with.

Zofia shushed Frost and the two of them stayed like that for a few tense seconds. Zofia managed to build up the courage and peeked her head out, only to have to duck it back down immediately after.

"Hey, I heard something." A voice said.

"Here we go again." Another voice responded. "You've been hearing things left and right ever since we got here, and yet we haven't found shit."

"I'm telling you man, I heard something."

"Fine then, point to me where you heard it and I'll check it out. If I don't find anything, you better not be here when I get back."

For a moment, Zofia and Frost didn't hear any voices, the silence suggesting the man had chosen not to risk it. This was good news for them because after telling his companion off, the two white masks seemed to move on. It wasn't until she was completely sure that they were gone that Zofia peeked her head out again, then got up entirely.

"Don't ever do that without warning again Zofia."

"Fine. Next time I'll just let them spot you." Zofia said, helping Frost up.

"They're dangerously close to where we were." Frost said "I didn't think they'd get that far this early."

"That means there's way more of them than we thought they'd be. We need to find Streicher and Meredith as fast as we can so we can all be together."

Zofia and Frost carefully got down from the ledge and went in the opposite direction. This was bad, they were running out of time.

…

Zofia and Jeremiah silently walked back to their car, only choosing to speak once they were back in its privacy.

"So that was a bust."

"I get it Jeremiah, you were right." Zofia said, visibly in a bad mood. "You were right and I was wrong. This whole counselling idea was bullshit."

Jeremiah was unsure of what to say. On one hand, hearing that he was right felt good, but on the other, Zofia had just been reminded that the foundation of their marriage was an unwanted pregnancy, the specific thing she went there to forget in the first place, so maybe that wasn't the best idea at the time.

He settled on not saying anything at all as he started the car and drove back home. The whole experience wasn't completely useless though. Jeremiah was reminded that they were married because of Sofie, but instead of taking it hardly like his wife did, he saw it as motivation.

He and Zofia were in this for the long run, and he was going to be a damned good husband and father.


	23. Chapter 23

"I don't feel good about this." Meredith said for the nth time since they had separated from Buck. "We shouldn't have just left him there."

"For the last time, it was our only choice. Plus, Sebastien kept insisting so not much we could do about that."

"What of he bleeds out while we're gone?" Meredith asked. "Or if the white masks find him?"

"You seem awfully worried about them aren't you?" Jager said. "That's a bit peculiar."

"In case you're forgetting, they tried to shoot me out of the sky too, so they want me dead as much you do." Meredith said. "So stop trying to make it look like I'm still involved with them. I just want to help Sebastien then get out of here."

"There it is again." Jager pointed out. "Why do you want to help Sebastien anyway? You'll still be arrested when this is all over."

"I get that you see me as a bad guy, but thinking that I'm only doing this because I'm expecting something in return is downright insulting."

"You expect me to believe that you're helping Sebastien out of the kindness of your heart?"

"Don't believe me then, I won't lose anything." Meredith said, pushing past Jager. "Now get you ass in gear so we can find Zofia and the others so I don't have to be stuck with you."

Jager got ahead of Meredith again and climbed over a fallen log blocking their way. In doing so, he caught his foot on one of its branches and fell down causing the contents of his vest pocket to spill out onto the ground. One of the said contents caught Meredith's eye.

"You son of a bitch." She snarled. "You said you didn't have it."

"I didn't. That's a duplicate."

Meredith crouched down to grab the keys to her cuffs and proceeded to unlock herself. "That's the same thing fuckwit. You had the key this whole time."

"We all had a key to your cuffs in case if situations like this."

"Then why didn't you uncuff me!"

Jager got up and dusted himself off. "Harry told me to only set you free if we deem it necessary." He said. "I didn't."

"We could have carried Sebastien easier if I was able to use my arms properly you asshole!"

"We managed didn't we?" Jager said, although Meredith did have a point. "Besides, Sebastien had a key too, and he didn't unlock you either. And here you are saying you two were friends."

"He didn't want to choose sides."

"He chose not to unlock you so I think he chose mine."

"He didn't say he had a key either, but that's not the point."

Jager scoffed. "This conversation has a point?" He asked. "I don't see it."

"My point is you should have taken these cuffs off earlier."

"Well they're off now so can we please move on? I'm sick of your whining."

Jager began walking again, only to dive into the bushes mere moments after. Meredith got a glimpse of what made him do so and barely had time to duck into cover herself when two white masks walked by. She watched Jager, waiting for him to make a move so she can act accordingly. Thankfully he was smart enough to choose not to do anything.

When they were in the clear, Meredith slugged Jager. "Thanks for the warning asshole."

"They would've heard me." Jager dismissed her. "And if I grabbed you anywhere I'm sure you would've made a racket. We can't find Sebastien if we're both dead."

"But if only one of us died, it'd be fine right?"

"There you go, now you're getting the big picture." Jager said, his sarcasm not so subtle. "And stop being so irritable, I'm sure you'd want to leave me dead here as well."

"You're damned right I will."

"Then we're on the same page." Jager said. "Now come on."

…

Zofia, Frost and Harry stood around a table, looking over every tool from the shed that they could use as a weapon, as well as their pistols and the three spare magazines that it came with. Having decided to head back to warn Harry and Buck before continuing to look for their other companions, Zofia and Frost decided to arm themselves as well, but if the difference was just an axe or two then there wasn't much a improvement on their odds.

"Hey Tina." Buck called out from the corner in which he was supposed to be resting in. "Take this."

Buck threw her his spare magazines. "We have the same pistols so these should be handy."

"And what will be left for you and Harry? I'm not taking this."

"Whether its one mag or four, its still not enough if they find us." Buck said. "You two have the option to run so you two can put them to better use. Plus it gives you better chances, and knowing that makes me feel better."

Zofia handed Frost an axe and walked out of the shed. "Come on. We wasted enough time we could be using to look for them."

Frost sighed. "Harry, you keep him safe."

"I will Tina, don't worry."

Frost left as well and now Harry and Buck were left alone. Now that things were quiet again, Buck just realized that they had a long wait ahead of them, which was only made harder by the fact that he has to spend majority of that time with a person that he hasn't really been honest with.

"Those two really care about you, don't they?"

"Well, Tina's one of my closest friends." Buck said, trying his best to avoid this topic.

"What about Zofia?" Harry asked. "She cares about you just as much. In fact, those two argued a lot about you when we first got separated."

"Well she's a close friend too." Buck said, painfully reminded that they were, in fact, just friends now.

"I was right to choose you to go with her on that operation. You two got so close so quickly." Harry said, no knowledge of the minefield he just wandered into. "You played that husband role so well that I still caught traces of it even though you two were back."

Buck tried to chuckle in the most non nervous way he could. "I guess I got too into it."

"Yikes. That could be hard." Harry said. "If you caught feelings for Zofia, I mean. Not only was she married, she had a daughter. And even if she didn't, you two still couldn't exactly be together."

"About that, why isn't fraternization allowed anyway?" Buck asked, one part trying to change the topic, the other part genuinely curious.

"Aside from the obvious reason?" Harry asked, to which Buck nodded. "To be honest, I'm nit allowing them purely because the old Six wanted me to enforce that rule."

"So if she didn't, it would be?"

Harry shrugged. "I mean, why not? If they're able to handle it without affecting their performance on the field, then by all means. Plus most of you guys don't follow it anyway."

Buck raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

Harry chuckled. "I'm the director Sebastien, I know everything that happens in Hereford and you would be amazed at the things I turn a blind eye to."

"I should be way nicer to you then."

"You should be nice to me regardless. I'm still your boss."

"So…, go on then."

"Go on with what?" Harry asked.

"Come on, with all the things you've seen don't tell me you don't have any gossip."

"Really? That's what you're worried about right now?" Harry asked.

Buck leaned back a bit further. "Well my leg's already fucked so what's the point in worrying about it?"

"Ugh, fine." Harry said. "What do you want to hear about first?"

…

"I see Zofia." Meredith said, grunting as she climbed higher up the tree she was in.

"Why do I have the feeling that's not all you see?"

"Because its not. In between us and them is way too many white masks for us to handle." Meredith said. "How many bullets do you have?"

"Sixteen."

"Why so few?"

"I'm a pilot." Jager said. "I'm not needed on the frontlines. I only need enough bullets to get by so that's all I'm given."

"Well we won't be getting by with just sixteen." Meredith said. "And the others weren't packing that much so even if we managed to meet back up with them, we'd still lose in a firefight."

"We're not supposed to challenge them to one." Jager said. "Can you find a way to signal them? Get then to know where we are?"

"Not a good idea. I can't get their attention without getting everyone else's."

"Fuck." Jager said. "Climb down from there and lets find a way to get to them."

Meredith was about to when she saw two figures coming from behind them, who spotted Jager before Meredith got the chance to think about whether she should warn him or not. She was safe though, the white masks more concerned about their enemy on the ground, and so she stayed in that tree as Jager ran.

The chase didn't last long, the two white masks having alerted everyone else so now, not only was Jager outnumbered, he was surrounded as well. There was a bright side though, with Jager having gotten the attention of every white mask in the area, Zofia and Frost were now able to move as they please. It also meant that no one would notice Meredith slide down from the tree she's on and make her way to the two people that don't plan on shooting her.

"You would have done the same." She whispered to herself as she climbed down, making a bit of noise when she did, but not enough to overshadow the loud conversation Jager and his captors were having.

"Tell me where your friends are and I will kill you quickly."

"I have no idea who you're talking about."

"Ok, I wouldn't have done that." Meredith said to herself, deciding to stay after hearing Jager cover for her for some reason. She wasn't going to help him, but she wasn't going to leave just yet either.

"Last chance asshole." One of the white masks said. "You know exactly who I mean."

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. Does it make a difference to what you'll do to me?"

Every white mask pointed their guns at Jager. "Not really, no."

Fuck it. "Good job guys." Meredith said, approaching them and redirecting their aim from Jager to her. "Took you long enough. Kill these fuckers and let's go already."

None of the white masks moved. In fact, they seem to have gotten even more tense. "Hey, did you hear me?"

"We're not here to pick you up."

"Oh? Oh, I knew that." Meredith said. "I was talking to Zofia."

The white masks all looked in different directions, looking for any signs of hostiles. They found none. "Was something supposed to happen?"

"I really hoped something would."

Before either of them could be shot, something did happen. The white masks closest to Meredith and Jager died first, and the rest followed, most of which didn't even get a shot off.

Zofia and Frost approached them. "How did you know we were near."

"I didn't." Meredith said. "That plan was a shot in the dark."

Zofia grabbed one of the discarded rifles and slung it over her shoulder. "Well thank god it worked." She said. "Come on. We need to get as far away from here as possible."

"Have you found Sebastien?" Jager asked.

"Yeah. He's with Harry right now, all the more reason we need to get a move on. They're alone and barely armed."

Meredith went to pick up a rifle, surprised by Jager's lack of disapproval. "You trust me now, don't you?"

"There are worse people than you." He said. "And I wasn't covering for you, I just didn't want to help the white masks."

"And I only came back for you because Zofia was here."

…

"Harry, we're on our way back."

Harry grabbed the radio. "Thank god you're alive. Did you find them?"

"Yeah. But the white masks definitely know we're still kicking."

"So those shots were you, huh?" Harry asked. "Hurry up and get back here already."

"Will do. Zofia out."

Harry set the radio back on his belt. "You hear that Sebastien?"

When he was given no response, he turned around to see Buck passed out. "Oh shit." Knelt down next to him and shook him lightly. "Hey, come on wake up. Wake up."

Buck slowly stirred awake. "Harry?"

"They found them Sebastien. They're one the way back here."

"How long has it been?" Buck asked. "Since we crashed, I mean."

"Three hours, roughly."

"Eliza had better sent that damned search party already."

"I'm sure she did Sebastien." Harry said. "Just hang in there."

"Don't worry, I'm not dead yet."

Harry nodded. No matter how much Buck assured him, he was still worried. His will to live was definitely there, but his body's ability to match that will, not so much.


	24. Chapter 24

"Hey! Get back here!" A white mask yelled to a figure which did the exact opposite if what he told it to do.

"The hell are you waiting for? Go after her." Another white mask said, running past his colleague who then followed suit.

They managed to corner the woman and this time decided to shoot immediately after word had gotten out about the last group of white masks that gave their victims a chance to fight back. A bullet whizzed through the woman's head and she then proceeded disappear right before their.

"What the…?"

The two white masks were shot dead within seconds of each other.

"Nice shot Timur." Iana said, popping out of the bush she hid im as she controlled her hologram.

Glaz jumped down from the tree he was perched in. "Nice bait. They fall for it every time."

"I'm starting to worry they'd catch on."

"I doubt it." Glaz said. "By the time they see you, they're dead so they don't really have the chance to warn their friends."

"Good. Let's keep it that way." Iana said, passing the radio to Glaz. "Go report this to Cohen, I'll scout ahead for any more of them."

Glaz nodded. "Hey, we got two more white masks."

"Two more? How many has it been?" Ash responded.

"Too many for me to bother counting. Shouldn't we have found at least some trace of them?"

"It's a huge forest Timur, be patient." IQ cut in. "We've been here less than an hour, just give it some time."

Over the radio, Glaz heard Ash sigh. "I knew I should have sent a team out the first time he hadn't called."

"You followed Harry's orders." Thermite radioed in. "Ain't none of this on you, 'Liza."

"Keep the comms clear, I can't hear anything." Nokk snapped. "Where was their location when you received Harry's last call?"

"The area we where we dropped in."

"If they haven't been shot down early, then there's a good chance they've gotten far from there."

"That's the thing, we have no way of knowing that." Ash said. "We can't afford to skip ahead, we might miss them."

"Then this will take a hell of a lot longer." Nokk said. "Let's hope they can hold out for that long."

…

Several items hit the ground when Zofia pushed them off a table to clear space so the others can lie Buck down on it.

"Find something that can close the wound." Frost said in a panic. "Anything that can be used as sutures. Hell, even duct tape works just find anything."

Zofia ripped Buck's already bloodied pant leg revealing the wound that just won't stop fucking everything up. "Jesus christ that looks bad."

"Staring at it won't help Zofia. Find anything that could be of use to use."

"This is a logging shed Tina." Zofia said. "The things usually present here are meant to cut things down, not to stick them together."

"Then just focus on Sebastien." Jager said, pushing down on the wound. "Keep him awake. Let the others take care of it."

Zofia examined Buck closer. He was barely conscious when she lightly slapped him. She got a response from him which was good, but it wasn't exactly the response she was going for.

"Hey Zofia." He said drunkenly. "Do you really want to do this now? The others are here though."

"What did he say?"

"Don't take it too seriously. He's way out of it." Zofia said. If there wasn't the threat of him not waking up, she'd prefer he just stay unconscious.

Meanwhile in the background, Meredith broke open a tool box that had a pair of pliers in it. "Does anyone have a light? I have an idea."

"Here." Frost said, tossing her a lighter. "How can that help Sebastien?"

"You'll see. Give me some bullets, and some paper if possible."

After being given what she needed, Meredith got to work, taking apart the bullets and emptying the gunpowder into the paper.

"I think I have an I idea of what you're going to do." Harry said. "I'll clean the wound to make it easier."

Once Meredith got enough gunpowder, she put it over Buck's wound, making sure to cover all of it, then readied the lighter. "This is going to hurt like hell, do you think he has enough strength left to take it?"

Zofia looked at Buck's expression. He was awake to the point that he'd feel everything, but not enough to that he can tell himself not to move so that it won't get messed up. "I don't think he has a choice."

"Fuck. Zofia, find a way to keep him calm."

There was only one thing that came to mind when she was told to keep Buck calm, and Zofia didn't have time to care about what the others thought. As soon as Meredith lit the gunpowder, she pressed her lips against Buck's, holding him down onto the table while also absorbing his screams into their kiss. She didn't pull away until his wound was completely cauterized.

"That wasn't what I had in mind, but ok." Meredith said.

"Zofia, do you mind explaining yourself?" Harry asked.

"Really? That's what you're worried about?"

"Well it doesn't seem like Sebastien will bleed out any time soon, so yes." Jager said, as puzzled as Harry. "Why don't you tell us what you just did."

Zofia looked at Meredith and Frost, the two people who already knew her secret, for help, both of whom had none to offer. She groaned from her stupidity. "Alright, fine." She said. "Sebastien and I, we're together."

"Well, you _were_ together." Frost pitched in.

To be fair, it was an important distinction given their current situation, but she'd be lying if she said it didn't sting a bit. Well, a lot. "Gee, thanks Tina."

"I didn't mean anything by that, I just wanted to let them know that the two of you are no longer in that kind of relationship."

"That doesn't matter Tina." Jager said. "And how the hell do you know about it anyway?"

"They were actually pretty obvious about it."

"There were rumors going around actually." Harry said. "I just never paid them any attention. Apparently I was wrong to."

"Look, let's get out of here first, then you can ridicule me all you want when we get back." Zofia said. Things between the six of them were no longer tense. Right now, everything was awkward, and she wasn't sure which of the two was worse.

"Cohen, you better hurry your ass up." She whispered to herself.

…

"I see Streicher's plane." Glaz told the others, hanging back and getting ready for any white masks that Iana could bring to him.

"What's left of it anyway. The area's clear Timur, we can push onward." Iana said, switching her hologram off and making her way down.

"You heard her, meet up at the crash site." Ash said over the radio.

Nokk was the last to arrive, and by the time she did the others had already checked everything out. "Did you find anything to go on?"

"One of them was injured." IQ said. "There's fresh blood near the crash and it leads a trail towards that direction."

"Then let's follow it. What are you waiting for?"

"You. We were waiting for you."

Normally, none of them would be happy if their friends were ever hurt, but whoever it was that was injured, they were thankful for because it gave them something to follow. There was just one problem though.

"Keep your eyes peeled." Thermite said. "If we thought of following the blood trail, chances are the white masks did too."

"Not to mention they have a huge head start on us too." Nokk said, breaking into a run. "Haul ass everyone, I did not go all the way here just to bring home a bunch of corpses."

…

Ever since Buck woke up, he felt different. His leg wasn't split open anymore, his blood didn't feel like spilling out of him at the slightest movement and most of all, his head was laying on something soft as oppose to what it had been laying on for the past couple of hours. When he found out just what it was exactly that he was laying on, it made him all the more comfortable.

He looked up to see Zofia smile down on him as she gave him a lap pillow. "Well good morning sleepyhead."

"I don't think its morning anymore." Buck said. "How long was I out?"

"An hour or so. How's the leg?"

"My leg has hurt ever since we crashed, but now I guess it's a little better."

"Great." Zofia said. "You know, this feels weirder than I thought it would be."

"Really? What does?"

"When your head is in between my legs like that, you're usually doing something else."

"Hey, knock it off. Not when the others could hear us."

Zofia shrugged him off. "None of them are here right now, besides, they already know."

"What? How?"

Figures that he won't remember, not that Zofia would want him to. Even she was embarrassed. "T-that's not important."

"Well, how did they take it?"

"Streicher was shocked at first, but is otherwise ok with it." Zofia responded. "Harry said he wanted to have a long talk with us when we get back though."

"Well shit. I have that to look forward to."

"Beats being here though." Zofia said.

"Maybe. But I wouldn't mind staying like this for a while."

Zofia smirked. "You just love thighs, don't you?" She teased. "Such a pervert."

"Forget to erase your history once and this happens." Buck groaned.

"There's something called incognito Sebastien. Its just three keystrokes."

Buck laughed for a bit before his smile slowly faded away in light of what he was about to talk about next. "Hey Zofia?"

"Hmm?"

"When we get back…I want us to be together again."

"What about…"

"We'll have a talk with Jeremiah." Buck said. "Get all of this properly settled."

Zofia smiled. "I'd like that very much."

Buck mirrored her smile. "I lov-"

Harry burst through the door of the shed. "Just because I said I'll let it slide for now doesn't mean you get to be all lovey-dovey like that out in the open."

"You were listening?"

"I only overheard that last part but it was enough." Harry said. "Sebastien, what the hell man? I told you to act like her husband, not take his place."

"Harry, you said you overlook a lot of things right? Let this be one of them."

"I really wish I could Sebastien, but I can't. Not when I'm…partly to blame for it happening." Harry said. "Plus the fact that Zofia is mar-"

"Don't." Zofia warned.

"You get the point. If this were any normal relationship, I'd turn a blind eye to it, but its not."

Buck sat up. "Just give us time Harry. We'll deal with everything."

"Does that mean what I think it means."

The two of them silently nodded.

"Its not directly related to Rainbow so I guess I don't really have much of a say in it." Harry sighed. "I just hope you two know what you're getting into."

Zofia held Buck's hand. "We do."

Buck smiled at Zofia, who smiled back. The moment was as sweet as it was fleeting, since the sound of gunshots brought them back to reality.

"What the hell? What was that?"

"Was it the others?"

Harry shook his head. "No. They were supposed to be leading them away from here."

"You said Eliza sent a search party right? If they were both looking for us, it would only make sense that they'd run into each other." Buck said.

Zofia grabbed a rifle. "If that's true, they're massively outnumbered."

"What are you planning to do Zofia?"

"What does it look like?"

Buck got up and grabbed a rifle as well. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Alright then, let's do this."

"You're out of your goddamned mind if you think I'm letting you come with me."

"You said it yourself, they're massively outnumbered." Buck argued. "They'll need all the help they can get."

"One person won't make much of a difference."

"One person makes all the difference and you know that."

Harry cleared his throat. "Um, if I may. This lover's quarrel is nice and all but those gunshots out there don't seem to be decreasing so can we please get a move on?"

"I'll be getting a move on." Zofia said. "You two stay here."

"Oh for fuck's sake." Harry snapped. "Zofia, I get it, you don't want Sebastien getting hurt, but this whole not letting your partner come with you because its too dangerous thing is so overdone at this point and I'm sick of it. You can't protect each other all the time, danger is part of your job description."

"Not to mention the fact that of you find Eliza and the others, you'd have to come back for us, which means you have to fight for much much longer than necessary." Buck added.

Zofia glared at Buck, looking like she was about to punch him. She grabbed him by his collar, but instead of hitting him, she pulled him in for a kiss, making Harry roll his eyes so hard that he saw the inside of his skull.

"Don't you dare die on me."

Harry pushed past them. "I'm sorry, I know this is like, a huge moment for you two but can we go already!"

…

Jager, Frost and Meredith all left the shed as soon as Buck seemed to be stable at the suggestion of Zofia that they need to keep the white masks away. Meredith volunteered first, followed by Jager who didn't trust her to go out alone, followed by Frost who didn't trust both of them to not kill each other.

"So how exactly are we supposed to keep them away?" Meredith asked.

"We just have to find a way to get their attention." Jager said. "I doubt that would be hard since they're already looking for us."

"Yeah but, how?"

"I'm open to suggestions."

Frost looked at the sky, which just began to darken. "Its almost nightfall."

"I want this day to be over too Tina, but we're not out if the woods yet."

"Literally." Frost said. "But that's not what I meant. The darkness is our advantage, and they know it. They'll be on edge, and we can use that."

"What do you have in mind?"

"They'll be expecting us to call for help. By know, they must have run into Cohen's search party so right now, they're waiting for us to signal them to us. I'm thinking an emergency flare or two can send them way off our trail."

"We need flares for that though, something we don't have." Jager said.

"Let's get creative. You, I'm going to need my lighter back."

Meredith patted her pockets and came up empty-handed. "I may have left it with Sebastien."

Frost sighed. "Its fine. I didn't want to start any forest fires anyway." She said. "We'll figure something out."

The sound of gunshots echoed through the forest, taking priority away from their current problem.

"Or we can just improvise."

…

After using the last of his ammo to gun down the white mask behind him, Thermite dropped his rifle and bolted, the sound of his claymore going off behind him telling him he had one less white mask to worry about. Two if he's lucky.

"Eliza!" He yelled into his radio, to which he got no response. "Come in! Anyone! Shit."

He gripped his pistol so tight he felt the grooves of the handle imprint on his palms. Not only was he down to his side arm, he was also alone. He came into a clearing where he was exposed from every direction, meaning that place wasn't an option, but turning back means he had to face the people who were the reason that he was running in the first place.

With a sigh, he cocked his pistol and turned around knowing full well he was outnumbered and outgunned. Or at least he was until the people chasing him were turned to corpses at the sound of Glaz's rifle. Moments later, he dropped down from the tree he was in and approached Thermite.

"They were in the trees." Thermite said, who couldn't help but smile at seeing someone who didn't want to kill him. "Thanks for the save."

"Don't thank me yet. Have you gotten in touch with the others?"

"No. No one's been answering their radio lately." Thermite said. "Eliza told us that if that happens, we meet back at the LZ right?"

"That was only after we had found Harry and the others."

"We can't look for them by ourselves Timur." Thermite said. "I want to find them too, but we need to regroup first."

They heard more footsteps approach them and they raised their guns, nearly taking Zofia's head off when she came into view.

"Jesus christ, I should've just approached the white masks." Zofia said.

"Bosak?"

"And company." Buck said as he and Harry also appeared. "What took you guys so damn long?"

"Its nice to see you too." Thermite said. "Where's the rest of you?"

"I just radioed Tina. She and the others found Cohen." Zofia responded. "They said to meet up at the clearing where you landed."

"Did she say if everyone else was there?"

"She got cut off by gunfire."

"Then we'll just have to hurry." Thermite said. "Come on, follow me."

They all ran as fast as they could with an injured person among them, making sure that they were slow enough that he could keep up but fast enough that they would still have something to return to. With the longest day of their lives seeming to be nearing its end, the final stretch just had to be an actual stretch, didn't it.

The gunfire seemed to lessen as time went on, something none of them wanted to acknowledge in the fear of jinxing things. As they got closer and closer, Buck's leg hurt more and more until he finally stumbled in pain from forcing it while it wasn't even properly healed yet.

"Sebastien!" Zofia knelt beside him to help, but Buck just waved her off.

"How much farther Jordan?" He asked.

"Just up ahead."

"Go on, I'll catch up." Buck said, mostly to Zofia. "Get everything ready so we can fly out of here already."

Reluctantly, they all left him, and they got to the clearing where everything was way too quiet. The helicopter was right in front of them, but their friends were nowhere to be seen.

"Did we…did we get here first or-"

A flash of bright light illuminated the whole clearing and they saw their friends held captive by the white masks. Several trucks faced them, accompanied by dozens of white masks. If there was still any doubt that they were outnumbered, this just confirmed it.

They dropped their guns and they were all forced to kneel in a line in front of their helicopter. One of the white masks then proceeded to examine them one by one, pistol at the ready.

"You all have caused so much trouble haven't you?" he asked.

"All this for me?" Meredith asked. "I'm kind of honored."

"I'm glad you feel that way. At least you're happy when you died." The white mask said. "In fact, let me honor you even more by killing you last, that way you got to live the longest."

The white masks aimed at the first person in line, who just so happened to be Harry. "No more talking. I don't want to give you guys the chance to-, will you two shut the fuck up!"

The white mask shouted at two other white masks behind him. "I'm trying to kill some people here and you two keep fibbing like children. What were you two talking about?"

Neither of the white masks said anything.

"Answer me or you'll be kneeling along side them."

"Well we followed a blood trail right, and we made a bet that whoever it was that was bleeding would be dead by the time we found them, and none of them seem heavily injured so…"

Zofia was shocked when she heard this, and sure enough, upon checking, Buck wasn't with them. The white mask noticed her expression.

"That's because they're not dead yet. Search the area! We are not leaving until all of them are dead!"

"No need motherfuckers! I'm right here." Buck yelled from beside one of the truck and as a result, got every gun pointed at him. He looked at Zofia and offered her a sad smile. "I love you Zo."

He then proceeded to open the truck's fuel tank and drop Frost's lighter into it.


	25. Chapter 25

Zofia awoke to the sound of someone knocking on her door. She groaned out a response that told whoever it was that she was awake but way too lazy to get up and let that person in.

"Its Julien."

Of all the people to be knocking on her door, Rook was one of the people she wasn't expecting. Sure, they had gotten closer, but she didn't think their relationship was at that level already. This intrigued her so much that she actually opened the door to see what he needed.

"Surprised to see you here without my sister." She said. "May I ask why?"

Rook stood there nervously, the same way he did when he came there a week prior for a favor. "I was planning on doing it today."

Zofia raised her eyebrow at him. "That would be one hell of birthday gift for Ela. Give me a sec."

She went back into her room and rummaged through her desk before finding her old wedding ring. Two months after they got back from the forest thanks to Buck's sacrifice, she decided to tell Jeremiah everything and still push through with the divorce. Just because she lost her happily ever after doesn't mean Jeremiah has to lose the chance to find his. In fact, she even heard from Sofie that he has a kind and loving new girlfriend now.

She gave Rook the ring. "Do I need to give you the speech or no?"

"You already did when I asked if I could borrow the ring."

"Oh yeah." Zofia said. "Take care of her, you hear me?"

Rook nodded. "Do you want to be there when I do it?"

"Won't I ruin the mood?"

"You can stay outside my room and just come in after she answers."

Zofia rolled her eyes. "Fine. Go on ahead, I'll catch up once I get dressed." She said. "Good luck Julien."

Rook stared at her. "You just called me Julien."

"And?"

"Its always just been Nizan before." Rook said, before smiling. "We're becoming friends."

For a split-second, Zofia saw Buck in Rook. No wonder they got along well. "Get out of here before I change my mind."

Rook nodded and left her alone to go change her sister's life forever.

Meanwhile on her end, the unexpected reminder of Buck prompted Zofia to re-read the letter that Buck somehow found the time to write for her and instruct Frost to give to her in case he didn't make it.

_Dear Zo,_

_Just in case I don't make it, I just want you to know that I love you very, very much. I know that sounds cliché but fuck it, that's how I really feel._

_I just want to clear some things up._

_Last night, when I broke up with you, that was the dumbest mistakes I ever made, and the reason for it wasn't what I said it was. At least not entirely. The part about me not wanting you to throw your family away was true, but I also broke up with you was partly because I was scared. I was scared that I won't be able to fill the void that losing your family will leave on you. I was scared that I wasn't going to be enough. Don't blame yourself for something that was my fault._

_I'm not a religious person, and I have faced death many times before but for some reason, its only now that I'm curious as to where I end up if I do kick the bucket, and to be honest, I don't care which afterlife I'd end up in as long as I get to watch over you. That way I can take comfort in knowing that I'll always be by your side, and that you'll know that…_

…_I'll be there for you, when no one else is._


End file.
